Provocative, Well-Acted ‘Schadenfreude’

Carlos A. Murillo’s philosophically dense, sometimes jarring “Schadenfreude” is a provocative imagining with slivers of dark humor and whimsical inclusions of modern-day conveniences. Although Schadenfreude refers to malicious joy, director Jonathan Westerberg sets a dispassionate tone in this Circle X Theatre Company production at the Hollywood Court Theatre.

Murillo conjectures about the transformation of Friedrich Nietzsche’s sister, Elizabeth (Bridget White), from the dutiful wife of a rabid racist, Bernhard Forster (Rob Nagle), into the manipulative keeper of her brain-rotted brother (Thomas Redding).

In a succession of abrupt set-up scenes, Friedrich (Redding) excitedly talks with his friend Paul Ree (Jeff Marlowe) about a possible menage a trois with Lou Salome (Suzanne Pirret). Pirret then plays Friedrich’s mother, fretting over Elizabeth’s marital prospects. Furthering the Freudian undertones, Elizabeth has an unnatural attachment to her brother.

Jealous of Salome, Elizabeth marries and is burdened by Forster’s idiocy, as represented by his attempt to build a utopian Aryan colony in Paraguay. After her husband’s death, as Friedrich’s caretaker, she will mingle with the Nazi elite, symbolized by her embrace with Joseph Goebbels (Marlowe). The play hints at the Nazis’ later mythologizing of Friedrich.

Murillo’s script could use judicious editing. References to cannibalism are incongruously campy, though Westerberg handles them well enough, with a tongue-in-cheek tone. The heavy-handed ending also seems out of place.

Yet this well-acted production is an intriguing look at one woman’s twisted influence on history and a poignant portrayal of a philosopher who unwittingly became associated with fascism.

*

* “Schadenfreude,” Circle X Theatre Company at the Hollywood Court Theatre, United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 19. $15, except Sundays, pay what you can. (323) 461-6069. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.