Cristina Velocci, assistant features editor, Timeout NY
In this unusual performance, Australian writer-performer- musician Mark Storen examines the intersection of love and violence through original songs and anecdotes inspired by true news stories from around the world. Though the subject matter verges on the macabre, Storen manages to put a hilarious spin on hot-blooded murder; his bizarre expressions and spastic movements are as oddly fascinating as the ruthless tales he tells—lust-induced patricide, possessive fits of strangling—in front of a heart-shaped projection screen. (At one point, he drafts the audience into a sing-along of an amusing ditty called “Stab U”—dedicated to his wife. How sweet!) This multimedia performance is robust enough that you forget it’s a one-man show, and Storen’s charming Aussie accent tempers the frequent lewd bits (even if it causes a few things to get lost in translation). The topics may be deep and dark, but this is a lovely and lighthearted fling.
**** [FOUR STARS]