His eyes burning with madness, his voice but an incomprehensible growl, Alfred Packer tears at the flesh of his compatriots in the barren landscape of Colorado Territory. Crimson stains the white snow and what started as a shpadoinkle day, turns into a nightmare.
So begins 'Cannibal! The Musical', based on the sordid tale of the only person ever convicted of cannibalism in the United States, Alfred 'Alferd' Packer. Made by 'South Park' co-creator Trey Parker, the film is a modern day cult classic which Adelaide's Briggs & Heaysman Theatre Company will present live on-stage this December.
Actor Ali Bertoldi stars in the production as Shannon Wilson Bell, the enthusiastic Mormon who initially convinces a troop of miners to set out from Utah to Colorado Territory in search of gold. “He's one of the miners who went on the expedition with Alfred Packer,” Ali explains. “He's a Mormon and his goal is to find enough gold so he can build a church and become a priest.
“I think he's a bit more reserved, and I'm used to playing characters who are a bit more out there, so for me it's about being a bit more reserved. Also there's having to act more like a priest, where he's trying to convince people that Mormon is the right path; but all in all it's a really fun role.”
A longtime fan of South Park, as well as Trey Parker and Matt Stone's other film work, Ali confesses he'd never seen 'Cannibal!' until he was approached for the role of Shannon Wilson Bell. Like your first taste of long-pig, Ali was instantly hooked.
“I'm a big fan of 'South Park' and the movies like 'Baseketball' and 'Team America',” he says.
“Briggs and Heaysman were talking about doing this show and they said beforehand to watch the movie, and once I saw it I knew I just had to be in it.
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“It was very entertaining, very funny and afterwards I found out the scenes of what happened in the movie are accurate to what happened in the actual story; it is based on a true story. The first time I saw it I couldn't believe it, like 'how did I not hear about this?'”
The original film begins with Packer's alleged attacks on his companions told in flashback by the prosecutor at Packer's trial. Claiming “that's not how it happened”, Packer then recounts his story to journalist Polly Pry, swapping between past and present events.
“The show takes a bit of getting used to because you're in a very different environment to that of the film, and you have to make it your own,” Ali says. “So that's definitely a challenge but I think it makes it more fun. It's pretty much the same as the film; there are a few adaptations because there's obviously things you can't do because of camera angles, but essentially it is more-or-less the same.
“In a sense it's fairly basic but that works to our advantage, because we have to go back and forward between Packer telling the story to Polly Pry, then the miners actually performing the story. So it's basic in a sense but in that way it really works for the show and makes it not as complicated.”
The charm of 'Cannibal! The Musical' lies in the bright and cheery songs which contrast starkly with the on-screen horror and gore.
“One of my favourite songs is 'That's All I'm Asking For' just because it's fun to sing, especially because I play Shannon Bell, and it's really informative about what each character wants individually.”
Working under the directorship of the 'B' in B&H Theatre Company, Matthew Briggs, Ali says this production of 'Cannibal!' remains true to the spirit and aesthetic of Parker's film, while giving it the legs to stand as its own adaptation.
“It's important to give out the humour the story has but you do also want to make it your own, which I think Matthew does really well. For me, I want to make an homage to the movie but I also want to make it my own.”
