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photo: Richard Termine for The New York TimesJ.J. Kandel and Neal Huff in “The Killing” by William Inge.
Directed by José Angel Santana
Directed by José Angel Santana
The New York Times
“A Death Request . . .After watching ‘The Killing’ by William Inge, it’s best to take a slow, quiet walk home. This is a play that benefits from reflection, a story that sticks in the mind and demands further thought, no matter how dark those thoughts may be.
. . . ‘The Killing.’
In the play Mac (Neal Huff) brings Huey (J. J. Kandel) home after the two meet in a bar. Within a few minutes Mac reveals that he wants Huey to kill him, ending a life of deep despair. Knowing that Inge struggled with depression and committed suicide adds an even stronger undercurrent to Mac’s plea, and that awareness, combined with the tension of whether the request will be carried out, leads to a play that is both bleak and riveting.
José Angel Santana’s direction is wisely restrained, and the two actors deliver truly heartbreaking performances. ‘The Killing,’ a superb piece of theater, is given an intelligent production here. It’s a story of loneliness and great pain, one that explores the saddest parts of the soul.” – The New York Times, Ken Jaworowski, August 8, 2009.
THEATERMANIA
“William Inge's never-before-produced one-act "The Killing" . . . Jose Angel Santana's perfectly modulated production keeps the action grounded. He elicits nuanced performances from his two actors, with Huff exuding a quiet desperation and Kandel speaking in slow, measured tones that give weight to the crucial choice his character must eventually make.” – Theatermania, Dan Bacalzo, August 6, 2009, New York.
nytheater.com
“Jose Angel Santana makes a fine New York directorial debut with a revival of William Inge's The Killing. Through the use of pauses and awkward silences, Santana furthers the psychological drama the playwright so aptly captured in his words.” – nytheater.com Jo Ann Rosen, August 4, 2009.
BackStage.com
“Huff, Kandel, and director José Angel Santana give these lonely souls an aching presence. . . . . "The Killing" is chiefly valuable as a new addition to the canon of one of America's underappreciated playwrights, but the performances make it worth seeing.” - BackStage.com, David Sheward, August 7, 2009.
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photo: Richard Termine for The New York TimesNeal Huff, left, and J. J. Kandel in “The Killing” by William Inge
New York Post
“A recently exhumed William Inge play . . .
‘The Killing’-- about a despondent, religious man who asks a young drifter to murder him -- is hardly first-rate Inge. Still, it's a fascinating rediscovery that's only now receiving its world premiere.
Staged with real tension by Jose Angel Santana and superbly acted by Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel, it also has an eerie resonance today, decades after Inge, a closeted homosexual, committed suicide." – New York Post, Frank Scheck, August 11, 2009.
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Scenic Design by Maruti Evans
‘The Killing’-- about a despondent, religious man who asks a young drifter to murder him -- is hardly first-rate Inge. Still, it's a fascinating rediscovery that's only now receiving its world premiere.
Staged with real tension by Jose Angel Santana and superbly acted by Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel, it also has an eerie resonance today, decades after Inge, a closeted homosexual, committed suicide." – New York Post, Frank Scheck, August 11, 2009.
(click to enlarge)Scenic Design by Maruti Evans
Lighting & Sound America
"The Summer Shorts series of one-acts is generally a showcase for new work, but, this year, the buzz is all about "The Killing," by William Inge -- who died in 1973.
'The Killing' is one of a couple of dozen Inge plays that have recently come to light, and it's a much darker work than such signature pieces as Picnic or Bus Stop. Mac, a middle-aged loner, has brought back Huey, a near-total stranger, to his apartment, ostensibly for an evening of whiskey and conversation. The situation looks, for all the world, like a gay pickup -- that's what Huey thinks he's in for -- but Mac has another plan: He wants Huey to kill him.
As Mac tells his stunned companion, he can't stand another day of loneliness, but his religious scruples prevent him from pulling the trigger. Huey balks, but, over the course of 20 minutes or so, Mac quietly and devastatingly makes his case.
'The Killing' . . . offers a fascinating inside view of the demons that tormented this fine writer. (Inge was deeply closeted, self-loathing, and addicted to the bottle; he ultimately committed suicide.) Under Jose Angel Santana's highly controlled direction, the piece achieves an intensity that's far beyond anything in the rest of the series; he gets especially fine work from Neal Huff, who vividly captures the way Mac's soul has been corroded by lsolitude. J. J. Kandel isn't quite old (or working-class) enough as Huey, but he partners well with Huff. 'The Killing' makes one eager to see what other works Inge had filed away." -- Don Barbaur, 11 August, 2009.
'The Killing' is one of a couple of dozen Inge plays that have recently come to light, and it's a much darker work than such signature pieces as Picnic or Bus Stop. Mac, a middle-aged loner, has brought back Huey, a near-total stranger, to his apartment, ostensibly for an evening of whiskey and conversation. The situation looks, for all the world, like a gay pickup -- that's what Huey thinks he's in for -- but Mac has another plan: He wants Huey to kill him.
As Mac tells his stunned companion, he can't stand another day of loneliness, but his religious scruples prevent him from pulling the trigger. Huey balks, but, over the course of 20 minutes or so, Mac quietly and devastatingly makes his case.
'The Killing' . . . offers a fascinating inside view of the demons that tormented this fine writer. (Inge was deeply closeted, self-loathing, and addicted to the bottle; he ultimately committed suicide.) Under Jose Angel Santana's highly controlled direction, the piece achieves an intensity that's far beyond anything in the rest of the series; he gets especially fine work from Neal Huff, who vividly captures the way Mac's soul has been corroded by lsolitude. J. J. Kandel isn't quite old (or working-class) enough as Huey, but he partners well with Huff. 'The Killing' makes one eager to see what other works Inge had filed away." -- Don Barbaur, 11 August, 2009.
Smith & Krouse
"['The Killing'] . . . is a long-lost play by William Inge . . . wherein a lonely man brings a guy he picked up in a bar back to his room late one night. What at first appears to be a gay pick-up play turns dark when we learn that this lonely man is terminally depressed . . . this takes on heartbreaking poignancy . . . it’s a gem of a one act play, beautifully acted by Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel." - August 13, 2009 Lawrence Harbison, smithandkraus.com
BroadwayWorld.com
"'The Killing' by William Inge - a premiere performance of a lost play by a renowned writer. It was directed by José Angel Santana, and starred Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel . . . Both actors are fantastic, and certainly do justice to this neglected play by a master of the stage." Friday, August 14, 2009; Posted: 10:08 AM - by Duncan Pflaster
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Show Business
"Inge’s terse, poetic dialogue evokes an eerie 20th-century night-world populated by rugged individualists. Under José Angel Santana’s direction, Kandel and Huff neatly embody their archetypal characters in a fitting tribute to a bygone style of American playwriting." - Ethan Kanfer, Auguest 14, 2009
Theater Scene.net
"William Inge’s “The Killing,” recently discovered, has the best pedigree. This unknown play by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Picnic, Bus Stop and Come Back, Little Sheba may be the most autobiographical play that Inge ever wrote. . .“The Killing” brings two middle-aged strangers together. Mac (Neal Huff) has brought Huey (Kandel) home for a drink after meeting in a bar, but his real motive is that he has an unusual request: he wants Huey to put him out of his misery by shooting him . . . Jose Angel Santana has staged the play with great sensitivity . . ." Victor Gluck, Theater Scene.net., August 16, 2009.
Variety
"The Summer Shorts series . . . have a forgotten gem . . . William Inge's horrifying "The Killing," a terrific one-act, never before performed, about an unnamed man (Neal Huff) and the guy he picks up in a bar (J.J. Kandel) for reasons that aren't clear until well into the play. The setup is vaguely reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock scenario and gets an appropriately noirish staging from helmer Jose Angel Santana . . . it's nice to see work that occasionally pushes the shortform boundaries (especially "The Killing")." - Sam Thielman, Variety., August 17, 2009
The Epoch Times
"'The Killing' . . . casts a dark and mysterious note. One man (Neal Huff) invites a younger man (J.J. Kandel) to his furnished room. The purpose of the invitation is not known at first. The two chat . . . What is desired is something so unique, so startling, that I won’t disclose it.
Suffice it to say that the play has tremendous tension; the actors compel our attention. José Angel Santana has directed with sensitivity and verve." - Diana Barth, The Epoch Times., August 23, 2009.
Suffice it to say that the play has tremendous tension; the actors compel our attention. José Angel Santana has directed with sensitivity and verve." - Diana Barth, The Epoch Times., August 23, 2009.
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"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
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