Any comment I make about the Smith family will make me out to be a snob. They live in a trailer just outside Dallas. Sharla Smith (Judy Bauerlein-Mitchell) hasn't cleaned it in years, nor has she gotten any help from Ansel (Mike Sears), her husband. Her stepkids, 22-year-old Chris (Joe Baker), a real piece of work, and his 20-year-old sister Dottie (Amanda Cooley Davis), cute as a button, are not much help. Yes, the Smith family has problems. They are short on cash and intelligence and long on dreams they cannot fulfill.
Tracy Letts has created a set of characters in his play, Killer Joe, that are difficult to like. Sharla dresses like a harlot, while Ansel can't divest himself of his jeans. Chris is a young, conniving drug seller in over his economic head. Dottie is a sweet young thing stretched to the limit. They are just a nice Texas family with a few problems.
Now why would you possibly want to meet the Smiths? Maybe because the actors do an outstanding job of making us find reasons to dislike their characters. As advertised, there is sex (Sharla's first entrance is bottomless in the badly lit trailer. Dottie is forced to disrobe in one scene. Joe Cooper (more about him later) enters in the all together.
Violence (All of the family arguments are quite physical; Joe is very physical) is the norm. It takes place in the 1980s and is certainly in the spirit of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Dinner is a tuna-fish casserole. Okay, that wasn't so bad. These people, on a good day, can't get along. On a bad day it really goes downhill. To make things far worse, enter Killer Joe Cooper (Don Pugh). He is such a sweet giant...well, until you cross him. At over six foot and husky; you never, never want to cross Joe Cooper.
Okay, I'll state it: this is trailer trash about to be trashed by hired killer Cooper. In about two hours we get to know the Smiths and Mr. Cooper. We see each devolve into their true characters. Chris is a scheming wimp. Sharla retains her trashy beauty to the very end. Ansel never could stand up for himself. Dottie seems to follow the line of least resistance. It is not a pleasant line, just a necessary line. And Coop, what can you say? He is hired to do a job and he does it. It must be compensated. Enough of plot!
The joy is not in the plot, the joy is in the performances. This is ensemble at its best. The actors are totally believable. We empathize with Dottie, we disliked Chris, we feel sadness for Sharla and very little for Ansel. Most importantly, we understand Joe. He has a contract and fulfills his part; the Smiths have to fulfill theirs.
You may not like the Smiths or Joe Cooper, but you will enjoy the vicarious pleasure of witnessing something on the Compass stage that you'll never have to witness you real life. You will be drawn to one or more of the characters, even as you are repulsed by others. It is a great little roller coaster of emotions and well worth the ride.
