Review: Thrill Me - The Leopold & Loeb Story (Waterloo East Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've spent a fair bit of time at theatres in Waterloo this week, heading to the Young Vic for their exciting season launch, and the Old Vic for their remarkable newest production. With those two titans of theatre dominating, it's easy to overlook a small but mighty production house just a minute away from both venues. Waterloo East Theatre has been thrilling audiences with its exciting programming for 15 years now, so it feels rather fitting that its latest offering is a new production of the musical Thrill Me, marking 15 years since its London debut. Would this revival prove to be a killer success, or would it fail to live up to the title?

Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story premiered in 2003 and has enjoyed several outings in London in recent years, most recently seen in a production at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2022. Based on a true story, Thrill Me takes audiences back to 1924 Chicago to tell the story of the infamous case of Leopold and Loeb - two brilliant young men, bound by desire, ego and a secret pact. Convinced they are “super men”, their intimate relationship and constant desire for thrills lead to a new extreme when they plan to murder a child. Believing they can pull off the perfect crime and get away with it, the infamous nature of their case tells us otherwise, but how did they get caught, and who really had the upper hand between them?

Written by Stephen Dolginoff, Thrill Me is an interesting exploration of the two men, attempting to explore their motives and the relationship between them. Beginning 34 years later at the parole hearing of Nathan Leopold, it is a clever idea to start at the end before moving backwards, assuming people know the story (I’m sure true crime lovers will be familiar, but I personally wasn’t aware of the case). Knowing where the story ends makes the journey of how the two men got there all the more thrilling as the pieces of the puzzle come together. Keeping the main focus on the relationship between the two men, Thrill Me is at its best when it explores the power dynamics of the two with aspects of manipulation and adoration.

The music and lyrics prove to be more of a mixed bag. Though the numbers are solid in themselves, they do suffer from being a bit too repetitive, with some of the rhyming never quite landing and never matching the quality of the book. Accompanied by just a piano, they do come across a bit too low-energy and quiet, never quite managing to thrill as much as the dialogue does. This same low energy is also felt during the moments where Richard Cunningham’s voice is played in crucial moments, almost sounding bored and in desperate need of more life to do the story justice.

The intimacy of Waterloo East Theatre feels like the perfect space to tell this story, allowing for a fully exposed exploration of the two men. Gerald Armin’s direction uses this to his advantage, making intricate choices with minimal distractions, knowing full well the heart of the story is down to the two men, and ensuring their performances reflect that completely. A minimalistic set design exists solely to accompany the men, but it is their performances that heighten the story and prove to be the strongest aspect of this production.

Rufus Kampa is both charismatic and enigmatic as Richard Loeb, the seemingly dominant force in the partnership and the catalyst for the crime that would see both men behind bars. There is a real watchable quality to Kampa as he embodies the difficult and even demonic character in a more exaggerated performance than his counterpart, but one that works incredibly well in the context of the story. More understated in his approach is Jamie Kaye as Nathan Leopold, offering a more gentle, tender and sensitive characterisation, and one that endears himself to the audience, despite the atrocities in the story. The sweetness and almost naivety in his performance serve as a stark contrast to the nature of the story, but such is the magnitude Kaye offers on stage that it works. The ever-changing dynamic between the two men is played fantastically, with Kampa and Kaye forming a strong double act that elevates the material.

Thrill Me offers conflicting feelings for the audience, with its unsettling and disturbing nature at odds with the intimacy of both the story and the venue. It has some strong aspects going for it, such as the cast, book and elements of the direction, though these are slightly let down by a production that doesn’t always have the energy required to make the story truly land. The result is an accomplished and certainly enjoyable watch that kept me entertained throughout its 90-minute runtime, even if it didn’t quite manage to thrill me.

Thrill Me - The Leopold & Loeb Story plays at Waterloo East Theatre until May 3rd. Tickets from https://www.waterlooeast.co.uk/thrill-me 

Photos by Robert Piwko