John Malkovich has a killer's look in his eyes. As he methodically paces the room, the actor fixes his unblinking stare on his latest victim -- a young soprano with luminous skin and an innocent face.
Savoring the moment, Malkovich approaches the singer from behind and caresses her body. He removes a clip from her hair and inhales her scent as she nervously performs an aria from Antonio Vivaldi's opera "Ottone in Villa."
Malkovich wraps a reptilian arm around her neck and squeezes until she starts choking. Their bodies lock together in an almost lustful embrace. The singer, Robin Johannsen, cries for help, jolting the killer out of his reverie. He releases his grip and slumps to the floor, physically exhausted and emotionally spent.
The choreography of murder is a messy business. For Malkovich, it's an artistically challenging one as well. The actor is playing real-life Austrian serial killer and bestselling author Jack Unterweger in a world premiere production, "Seduction and Despair," scheduled to run this weekend at Barnum Hall Theatre in Santa Monica.
Malkovich is no one's idea of a conventional movie star, so it should come as little surprise that when working on stage he gravitates toward projects that are eccentric and potentially disturbing. "Seduction and Despair" is an unabashedly experimental work that combines elements of theater, opera and digital video art into what its creators hope will be a new artistic form.
In the play, Malkovich delivers a monologue as the killer, who is speaking from somewhere in the afterlife. (Unterweger hanged himself in his prison cell shortly after the conviction.) Two sopranos (Johannsen and Celine Ricci) portray his victims, who take turns interrupting him with arias by Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart and others. The orchestral accompaniment is by the Baroque music ensemble Musica Angelica, conducted by Martin Haselbock.
For Los Angeles audiences, the story has special significance.
In 1994, Unterweger was convicted of murdering nine prostitutes, including three in the L.A. area. The bodies of Shannon Exley and Irene Rodriguez were found in Boyle Heights, and the body of Peggi Jean Booth, who also used the name Sherri Ann Long, was discovered in the Malibu hills. Police determined that Unterweger had strangled his victims using their brassieres.
