Hollywood actor John Malkovich is to play an Austrian serial killer at the Barbican in June 2011.
The Infernal Comedy – Confessions Of A Serial Killer is a “dramatised concert” written for a Baroque orchestra, two sopranos and an actor. Based on the real-life story of Jack Unterweger, a convicted murderer who became acclaimed as an imprisoned poet, it imagines Unterweger coming back from the dead to launch his autobiography.
Malkovich is best known for his extensive screen career which includes the films In The Line Of Fire, Dangerous Liaisons, Of Mice And Men and Being John Malkovich. A founding member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, his stage work in New York includes Death Of A Salesman, Arms And The Man, The Caretaker and Burn This.
The Infernal Comedy was announced as part of the Barbican’s 2010/11 season, which also includes theatrical highlights from Robert Lepage, Cheek By Jowl, Peter Brook, Complicite and the National Theatre Of Scotland.
“International excellence, innovation, new work, adventure and top names have long been the hallmark of any Barbican arts announcement. This year is no exception,” said Barbican Centre Artistic Director Graham Sheffield.
Lepage returns to the Barbican in February 2011 to present The Blue Dragon, a sequel to the 2005 six-hour epic The Dragons’ Trilogy, which picks up the lives of two of its characters 20 years on. Lepage’s previous work at the Barbican also includes Lipsynch and The Anderson Project.
Cheek By Jowl returns to the Barbican in spring 2011 with a Russian-language production of The Tempest, while Peter Brook, whose 11 And 12 played at the Barbican last month, presents a new adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
The season also offers another opportunity to catch Complicite’s Shun-kin, which returns to the Barbican in November this year, and the National Theatre Of Scotland’s 2009 Laurence Olivier Award-winning Black Watch, based on the experiences of soldiers in the legendary Scottish regiment serving in Iraq. Black Watch plays from 27 November to 8 January in the Barbican Theatre.
The National Theatre Of Scotland also teams up with Frantic Assembly for Beautiful Burnout (16 September to 2 October 2010), a bruising tale of aspirations set in the world of boxing.
CB