Don't miss: The Infernal Comedy - Confessions of a Serial Killer

“When a dead serial killer returns to the stage to present his autobiography in a public reading, a comedy is not exactly what we are in for; but what are we demanding, anyway, if we are waiting to see a new opera/play about a murderer of women, for an orchestra on period instruments, two sopranos and one actor?” asks Michael Sturminger, the writer and director of The Infernal Comedy.

In early 2008, Sturminger, a playwright and opera, theater and film director, started a project with musician and conductor Martin Haselbock, who was interested in “a few connections between classical music and contemporary acting”, inspired by the bizarre and twisted life of the Austrian serial murderer-turned writer Jack Unterwerger. “The forecast changes completely if we learn that John Malkovich is going to play the role of Jack,” says Sturminger. “Now we definitely expect the unexpected. That very anticipation made me bold enough to try to write the libretto, and it helped me to finish it within a few weeks.”

Sentenced to life in 1974 for the killing of a prostitute, Unterwerger started to write in prison, and came to public attention. Following pressure from 700 Viennese intellectuals, who organized a petition calling on the authorities to release him, he was freed after 14 years and enjoyed a rise to fame as a journalist and writer, lecturing all over the world. While on tour he started to kill again. He was caught and convicted for the second time. In 1994 he committed suicide in prison.

Sturminger’s collaboration with Malkovich was instrumental in both the writing and the directing of the piece. “Once the play was written it was a pure pleasure to direct, especially since the piece gave John room for improvisation in a literal way, which means continually improving it and making it better,” says the director. “Although staying perfectly faithful to the direction, text and his partners on the stage, John, in every single rehearsal and performance, searched for new possibilities to surprise himself and us. Watching John Malkovich perform, we immediately connected to the ideal for which dramatic art is made: the presence of the moment.”

The first performance was at Barnum Theatre, Santa Monica, California on May 3, 2008. Since then, the production has toured both in the US and Canada and in Europe.