All In The Execution
New Zealand Listener|June 2 - 8 2018

The Indian Ink Theatre Company has gained American backing for a new play about the inventor of the electric chair.

Francesca Horsley
All In The Execution

In the windowless rehearsal space at the Westpoint Performing Arts Centre, in Western Springs, Auckland, an actor is enduring a variety of mock executions at the hands of his fellow cast members.

Dressed in grey-and-white-striped prison garb, they cheerfully practise their guillotining, garrotting and hanging, all the while belting out the sardonic lyrics of a band’s offbeat, jazzy songs. The Indian Ink Theatre Company is hard at work honing their latest show Welcome to the Murder House and it’s gruesome, dark, transgressive fun.

The actor being subjected to these methods of capital punishment is playing American dentist Alfred Southwick, the man who invented the electric chair.

In the storyline, it is 1895. Five years have passed since William Kemmler, who had murdered his de facto wife Matilda Ziegler with a hatchet, became the first person to be executed by electrocution. Five death-row prisoners are given a night to celebrate with their own play, telling Kemmler’s story.

The work has been commissioned by the prestigious South Coast Repertory, a professional company in Orange County, south-east of Los Angeles. It is premiering in Wellington’s newly opened Te Auaha New Zealand Institute of Creativity.

It is not the first time Indian Ink’s co-founders, writer Jacob Rajan and director Justin Lewis, have approached this grisly subject matter. The Dentist’s Chair in 2008 told the story of a dentist haunted by the ghost of Kemmler, but the pair felt some aspects missed the mark. The focus now is on Southwick, and Rajan says the convicts regard the inventive dentist as their hero.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2 - 8 2018 من New Zealand Listener.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2 - 8 2018 من New Zealand Listener.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من NEW ZEALAND LISTENER مشاهدة الكل
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 mins  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024