Company Information
Schadenfreude Productions Limited was established in 2005 by Garrett David Millerick to produce thought provoking contemporary drama. Since its inception, the company has produced two short films and two Edinburgh Fringe Productions.
Schadenfreude’s theatre projects have garnered a significant amount of critical acclaim. A selection of reviews for David Mamet’s Oleanna (2005) and Anthony Neilson’s Normal (2006) can be found below.
Oleanna
I don't want revenge, I want understanding.
I am going to be blunt: this production is top class theatre. Issues of sexism and power are argued out by a dynamic cast who keep the audience on tender hooks. There is so much to praise here. The direction by Millerick is subtle and intelligent and the fantastic use of music linked the scenes giving the show a definite sense of identity. Actors, Daniel O'Neill and Holly Hardy, excelled in difficult parts displaying masterful understanding of Mamet's naturalistic language that oozes with wit. The dramatic tension was sustained throughout; indeed the teacher/student interplay was electrifying. Oh my god, I don't have anything bad to say about this production and that is saying something! Irresistible.
Three Weeks
This is Schadenfreude Productions first foray at the Fringe and they have managed to craft a very confident and ambiguous take on a play, which easily could have been used to attack feminism - you come away from this endlessly contesting who was in the right or the wrong.
Pared down and well acted, this production never loses its audience and is thoroughly engaging and provoking. An excellent debut that builds to a startling end.
Hairline
Normal
At the International Festival, Anthony Neilson's latest play, Realism, explored the inner workings of one man's mind in humorous fashion. Meanwhile, on the Fringe, Schadenfreude Productions are reviving one of his earliest works, which delves into a much darker psyche.
First seen at the Fringe in 1991, Normal is based on the life of German serial killer Peter Kurten. His terrible crimes (at least nine murders and possibly 59 more) were perhaps the most brutal the country had seen. He was executed in 1931.
The play opens after Kurten's arrest as a young, sheltered lawyer, Justus, sees his chance to make his name and impress his demanding parents by saving the self- admitted killer from the gallows with a defense of insanity. But he finds Kurten chillingly logical and all-too ready to die. First, however, the killer will play around with Justus's certainties, making his innocence a final victim.
Daniel O'Neill is compelling as the suave monster, charming Tim Harcourt's dazzled lawyer into a strange relationship with Kurten's masochistic wife (played by Holly Hardy). The look of the production is as bleak as its subject matter, all dark shadows, with the actors sometimes lit to look like skulls. They have drawn on the expressionist look of UFA Films, the Weimar-era studio which produced Fritz Lang's M - said to be based on the Kurten case - as well as deliberately slipping into manic silent film farce to show Kurten's courtship of his wife.
This is an impressive production, though certainly not a comfortable one. Of course it doesn't really "explain" Kurten and only hints at parallels with a country that was also shortly to descend into madness. But for a late-night chill, it's horribly well done.
One of Neilson's earliest plays, Normal tells the story of the "Düsseldorf Ripper", Peter Kurten, who was convicted of nine murders but was suspected of 59 more. Neilson's multi-layered play looks at Kurten's life through discussions between him and his defence lawyer with whom he plays mind games, shattering the young man's complacency.
Beneath the surface of these mind games is an examination of what makes a psychopathic killer and, deeper still, an exploration of what it means to be "normal", particularly in the context of the dying days of the Weimar Republic and the growth of the Nazi party. Typically of Neilson, it is a deeply disturbing play, forcing us not only to think but to recognise the demons within us all.
This production is powerfully performed, with the actor playing Kurten (Dan O’Neill) sending a genuine shiver down the spine as with apparent reasonableness he delights in manipulating the young lawyer. It's a play and a production which makes you think - and worry!
For more information about the Schadenfreude Productions please feel free to contact us.
