The Fat Cat Killers

Adam Szymkowicz's entertaining The Fat Cat Killers combines an incompetent-criminals comedy with a take-down of capitalism. Rather than building on or complementing each other, the two components clash, with the whole play being less than the sum of the parts. (Though the parts are frequently excellent.)

Steve and Michael work for what seems to be a large corporation. Though "work" might be more accurate. Steve, in an interview for a promotion, announces, "... it's true I don't actually do a lot at my desk these days. I kind of put off the work and no one seems to notice so I guess that's an okay thing to do. Not that it should be, but, you know, it is."

David Carl, Philip Cruise (sitting), Christopher Lee 
Photo: Scott Fetterman

After Steve and Michael are laid off, they meet at a bar to discuss their options. With the help of many beers, they hit on a plan to kidnap the head of the company, Dave Russell. They want a share of the ten million dollars he made the previous year. 

Steve: They paid him ten million and in turn he lays people off?

Michael: That's why he laid people off. Because he wants to be paid more this year.

Somehow, stumbling along, Steve and Michael manage to kidnap Russell. While smug and obnoxious, Russell comes across as superior to Steve and Michael. (It reminded me of Hitchcock's movie Lifeboat, where the terrible villain is the only character who has a clue.)

Although tied to a chair, Russell deftly spars with Steve and Michael, playing on their idiocy and greed. But while it would seem that Russell is "having a battle of wits with unarmed opponents," Michael's gun is an effective competitor. As time goes on, the incompetent-criminals comedy becomes less and less funny, and the capitalism-stinks component becomes less and less effective.

The press release for The Fat Cat Killers says, the play "was penned long before Luigi Mangione made international headlines." While it's an obvious comparison, as the fictional Steve and Michael and the very real Mangione sought to wreak revenge on an executive they held culpable for great evils, the comparison actually weakens The Fat Cat Killers. Mangione was angry that legitimate medical insurance claims weren't being okayed, causing worsened health and even death to the insured. Steve and Michael are pissed that they were laid off from their jobs, at which at least one of them was completely useless.

All that being said, I have to repeat that The Fat Cat Killers is a very entertaining 90 minutes (although its three endings made the latter part drag). It is well-acted by Christopher Lee, David Carl, and Philip Cruise. Andrew Block's direction is imaginative and largely well-paced. 

But, having seen Szymkowicz's fabulous Hearts Like Fists and Marian Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, I did want more from this play.

Wendy Caster