Review: Zoe’s Killer Instinct at Motley Wherehaus
Review by Greg Gorton
A highly polished comedy cabaret about a serial killer with a twist, Zoe’s Killer Instinct will either be by your favourite Melbourne Fringe show, or the one that frustrates you most.
Zoe is a down-on-her-luck actor, at the end of her rope after the latest casting director said that she “lacked killer instinct”. Walking through a dark park at night (as her mother always told her not to), she has a drunk man harass her (as tragically expected). However, she also finds a bag of knives. A bag of knives that talks to her. That tells her that man needs to die.
Through a series of pretty funny songs full of (excuse me here) killer one-liners, a story is told of Zoe finding her power and her voice through murder, of a society that doesn’t like that men are now afraid, and of an entertainment industry now loves the woman with killer instinct.
Zoe Jensen is a charismatic charmer with a great voice, and between the velvet dress, platinum hair, and vague notions of the night ahead, I couldn't help but think of Roxie Hart. I’m confident it wasn’t a coincidence. The audience hangs on Jensen’s every word, and the desire to equate her with “Zoe” seems to convince many audiences that they have a hero on their hands.
The music (by Travis Hennessy) is catchy cabaret jazz, built heavily around the lyrics of Michael McStay. While it is unlikely that any song will stay with me, it was easy to feel moved by the music at the time. McStay’s lyrics are fast and flowing, enjoy a large vocabulary, and have their own little musical phrases that pair well with the melody. Fans of Gilmore Girls will certainly enjoy that these descriptors also refer to the musical’s book, giving “Zoe” a wit and intelligence that somehow makes her character seem more reprehensible.
This is one of the most beautifully staged shows I’ve seen this Fringe, with lighting and costume design hammering home that nightclub-cabaret aesthetic. A costume change mid-show will undoubtedly blow you away, and I’m amazed they were not selling copies of the dress after the show. I hope the costume designer is shouted many a drink for it.
And here is where I may divert from the many loving fans this show has and will continue to garner as it tours. This is, again, a beautiful show with an amazing performer and very fun songs. The designs cannot be faulted. Some of the lines are the sort you might expect Wilde to give out if we were lucky enough to have him around. But there is a major flaw that whispered in my ear, quite like those knives, and only got louder when the night went on:
This is Girl-Boss American Psycho.
I think the sentence says all it needs to. I had the mistaken expectation, especially after reading the director’s notes, for a properly confronting look at the horrors of domestic violence today, the rampant misogyny that fuels it, and (if lucky) a look towards a future where we might actually go a single week without a woman dying from domestic violence. While this show makes clear that women have to live in fear and “on guard” their whole lives, and that those in power would care more if the genders were swapped, this is as far as it ever goes. Otherwise it is the story of a woman who doesn’t care what happens next, as long as she wins the Oscar.
I admit, I feel I can make this critique for the simple reason that I know I’m in the very tiny minority on that one thing. Otherwise I agree with the hordes of fans this show is building, Zoe’s Killer Instinct is stellar sounding, stellar looking, stellar performed! Zoe’s Killer Instinct is very likely something you will love. It’s not exactly feminist, but it is fun.
