Fans of true crime (and Starburst readers who like a certain sort of horror movie) will be familiar with the story of Lizzy Borden and may even know the folk rhyme about the related axe-murders. Lottie Platchett Took a Hatchett is a comedy drama inspired by these horrific events that took place over a hundred years ago.
The show opens with the titular Lottie (Starship’s Lauren Lopez) on trial for murder. The judges and other law-types are bearded idiots with testosterone related names. Lottie is accused of being bother woman and a murderer; it’s hard to tell which thing the judge thinks is worse. The rest of the story is told in flashback.
We meet Lottie’s father (Nope’s Ryan W Garcia), with whom Lottie is infatuated, Lottie’s little brother Pansy (Buffy the Vampire star Tom Lenk) and the step-mother, Barfa ( Justin Elizabeth Sayre ). The rest of the show is a camp farce; Lottie lusts for her father, Pansy, who is confined to his room, lusts for a male connection, and Barfa just wants the weird kids out of her new house.
This is a very camp, innuendo filled panto of a show. The humour is thick with crass jokes and cartoonish over-reaction. Though it feels like the narrative is trying to say something meaningful every time it comes close it crawls back into cheeky one-liners and crude humour. It’s very queer (in all senses of the word) throughout and fun in a very high-camp, sit-com sort of way.
It has some deliciously dark twists and turns and is mostly worth a watch to see Lenk and Lopez spar with each other across the stage. Fun, but in a very camp way.
