FringeNYC 2013: Killer Therapy

An infamous assassin facing a midlife crisis pays a surprise visit to a pacifist therapist as she's about to leave for spin class. She stays. He recovers his lost humanity, and she discovers her inner ninja.

Official production website
Show details/ticketing at FringeNYC

Venue: The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street

Review by Ethan Angelica · August 10, 2013

Does strength breed aggression? Must pacifism only equate to openness and connection? And what happens when you reverse these equations? These are the big questions asked in Killer Therapy, Brandt Johnson's new play in FringeNYC. And they are important ones. Yet, the play itself is a rambling, confused jumble of scenes that never dives deep enough into these issues to actually make the audience think hard about them.

Killer Therapy is the story of an infamous assassin who barges into a therapist’s office as she is headed out the door for a spin class. Turns out, our assassin (who may not be what he seems) is in the throes of a midlife crisis, while our therapist slowly unravels as she allows politeness and apology to get in the way of her goals. Between an impromptu workout session, some odd role-play and lots of obtuse, heady conversation, our assassin finds a purpose and the therapist gains the courage to stand up for herself. Yet, this journey is so disjointed that both my viewing partner and I spent the better part of an hour trying to trace out exactly what happened in the play, and we both agreed that the resolution at the end was just as confusing as the plot. While there are a few good laugh lines, I credit most of them to performance, and not the script.

The production is quite lucky to have the spectacular Summer Broyhill as half of this two hander. As the neurotic, quirky therapist, she shows that she can find the truth in any moment. She is a comic dynamo with some of the best timing I have ever seen, and her phone call bit is the highlight of the entire play. Under Katie Lindsay's careful direction, which provides much-needed momentum, she is able to surmount the challenges of the script and create a dynamic character with a real and honest journey. The production values are very high, especially for a FringeNYC show, and Michael Minahan deserves praise for a spectacularly realistic set on an indie theater budget.

I wish Killer Therapy had offered the incisive questioning of human nature that it seems to want to do, especially through comedy. While the writing is occasionally smart, the play rambles along and loses whatever bite it may have along the way, never really asking much of its audience besides a laugh here and there. Perhaps with some tightening and stronger structure, this play might be able to broach discussion on the real questions it seeks to answer. Right now, however, it's more confusing than anything else.

Preview: Interviews with Artists from Killer Therapy

We're asking artists from each show to answer questions about themselves and their work to help our readers get a detailed advance picture of the festival:

Many Faces of Theater · Katie Lindsay (Director)

What type of theater do you like most to work on?
I'm really excited by new work that addresses our political and social climate, that questions our assumptions and challenges our beliefs.
What is your signature style or aesthetic as a director?
I don't have a signature style- it's always evolving. I do love plays that use language in clever ways, and whenever I can't solve a problem in rehearsal, I always go back to the text.
Are audiences in New York City different from audiences in other cities/countries where you’ve worked? If so, how?
Yes! Definitely. Audiences in New York City have endless options when it comes to theater, so they are sharper critics. It takes more to challenge and surprise New Yorkers. I love that-the audiences here challenge me to be a better director.
Where would be your ideal working environment: New York in 2013, Shakespeare’s Globe, the theater of Sophocles and Euripides, Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theater?
New York 2013, Fringe Festival baby!
Groucho, Chico, Harpo, or Zeppo?
Bono.

All About My Show · Summer Broyhill (Actor)

Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
Confronts life's most polarizing questions of morality with push-ups and roundhouse kicks. To be fair, the beauty of FringeNYC is that there isn't much you WON'T see. Though "Killer Therapy" opens on a fairly wild concept, the themes are universal and incredibly relevant: must we be weak in order to connect? Must we be violent to be strong? Does being an "uncompromising" person oblige you to compromise values? And most importantly: what happens when even your therapist is unravelling...hilariously.
Tell us about the character or characters that you portray in this show.
I play Dr. Nicole Stephens, a prominent therapist specializing in aggression treatment. Nicole has big, idealistic dreams she is unable to fulfill in part because her excessive pacifism and pathological avoidance of conflict stand in her way. She is a pleasure to portray because she is so profoundly and endearingly neurotic and flawed. I don't know a lot of successful, capable, professional women who aren't in some way hiding this side of themselves, and it's lovely to be able to shine a light on that.
What moment or section in this show do you really love to perform? Without giving away surprises, what happens in that moment and why do you love it?
Nicole is undergoing a complete assault on her worldview and she unravels accordingly. Great theater, to me, is about catharsis: the actor experiences it fully and it gives the audience permission to slough off the things that no longer serve them as well. Nicole's cathartic behaviors are by turns hilarious, heartbreaking, shocking, frustrating, and achingly familiar. And cathartic behaviors are, well, cathartic to play.
Which school or system of acting has been most useful to you in your career, and why (examples: The Method, Uta Hagen, Viewpoints, etc.)?
As a hyper-analytical, text-oriented person, I have to sit down with a character and analyze them to death. That is very much an essential, one might say obsessive, aspect of my process. But the magic never happens until I stop thinking, which is why techniques like LeCoq and Viewpoints have served me so well by taking the focus out of my mind and into my body. Similarly, I still find the acting 101 method of Meisnerian repetition to be incredibly palette cleansing. It's like, once you've found absolutely everywhere a moment can go, you can exhaust yourself into granting it permission to go where it will.
What's your favorite pastime when you’re not working on a play?
I'm a huge reader. Between pursuing various aspects of theater and performance and surviving in between those pursuits, little time seems to be left for dimensionalizing your humanity. I feel that reading is the most expedient way to do this.

Read more All About My Show previews!

Journey to FringeNYC · Brandt Johnson (Writer)

Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where did you go to school?
I was born in Hartford Hospital and raised in Farmington, Connecticut. I graduated from Williams College and have an M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School of Business.
What are some of your previous theater credits? (Be specific! Name shows, etc.)
Killer Therapy is the third play I have written. I previously wrote and performed in Just Sex (Theatre for the New City) and Give and Go: Learning from Losing to the Harlem Globetrotters (FringeNYC and Metropolitan Playhouse). Other acting credits include Walt Disney’s Broadway workshop of Hoopz, directed by Savion Glover and Kenny Leon; the Off-Broadway production of Philip Ridley’s The Pitchfork Disney (Blue Light Theater Co.); and the workshop of Liz Tuccillo’s Joe Fearless with Matthew Broderick and Rosie Perez. I formerly worked as an investment banker, played professional basketball in Europe, and played on tour against the Harlem Globetrotters.
Why did you want to be part of FringeNYC?
My play Give and Go: Learning from Losing to the Harlem Globetrotters was part of FringeNYC 2007. I had a wonderful experience then, and that production really helped the development of the play. So I wanted to come back with Killer Therapy!
What was the most memorable/funny/unusual thing that has happened during the development and rehearsal process for this show?
Hearing the words of this new script read out loud for the first time was a thrill.
Be honest: how many drafts have you written of this play so far? Are you still re-writing? What’s the process been like?
The current script is draft 70. But I save new drafts rather frequently! (I started writing Killer Therapy in January of this year.) Yes, I am still re-writing. This play sprang from another play I was writing. As I was developing the other play, I found myself most interested in the relationship between the main character and his therapist. So I decided to write a different play focused on a therapist/client relationship - that play became Killer Therapy.

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