I Am Charlie

Reviewed by Paul Birchall
El Gato Rojo Productions
Through October 21

Playwright Stephen A. Cardinal’s intriguing drama takes place in the afterlife, where we are granted an audience with the ranting, raving, crazy-eyed murderer and cult leader Charlie Manson. Now, I don’t know about you, but if we’re in the afterlife and the host of our party is none other than Charlie Manson, it’s clear that we’re unlikely to be in Heaven.

Cardinal’s stylish piece, harrowingly executed by Joe Le Mieux with maximum intensity and commitment, is a striking tour de force, though. It’s less a Wikipedia biography of the iconic madman than an attempt to place Manson’s existence in context — as if you’re trapped in a room with him and have no choice but to listen to his raving. The result is a show that boasts a palpable sense of danger. Nothing makes for an absurdist evening of drama more than watching someone being Charlie Mansion. But not to worry: Although Le Mieux is fond of making crazed-eye contact with members of the audience, the only helter-skeltering will be done by the folks on the Third Street Promenade just outside the theater.

Director Tom Waters’ production is rich with calculatedly disturbing elements. The play opens with a video montage of maniacs: Manson, Jack the Ripper, to John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and many others. Donald Trump flashes by the screen as well. The set is the outside of a prison death chamber, held shut with one of those hatch wheels that seal the door closed. There are loud rumbling noises of some sort; the hatch wheel ominously spins before the massive metal door swings open, and Manson comes out to greet us.

This isn’t a show in which this killer tries to apologize for the crazy things he did. He’s sorry, but not sorry for all of it!  Eyes flashing, and tongue a-waggling, Manson insists he didn’t have anything to do with murdering Sharon Tate (he just put others up to it) and believes he spent his life in prison because of his hypnotic, god-like powers. As he stomps around the stage, ridiculing the serial killers who came after him and shrieking about his desires to use psychic waves from the future to create a mechanical drive to travel to other stars, Le Mieux’s Manson achieves a sort of iconic figuration. The performer’s artful, larger than life performance posits Manson as a symbol — the patron saint of madmen, as it were, none of whom are able to achieve his level of notoriety or downright inscrutability.

Through the monologue’s scattershot structure, Cardinal explores why Manson has captured the public’s attention like few other psychopaths. Other people have been crazier and have even killed more people, but few resonate as much in our memory.  A one-note piece that makes its statement over and over again, the show offers little sense of narrative — but it’s still a fast-paced, imaginative, and clever solo effort.

Promenade Playhouse, 1404 3^rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Oct. 21. (310) 656-8070 or www.promenadeplayhouse.com. Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.