Kinski & I

When German movie star Klaus Kinski sat down to write about his life as an actor, he instead wrote an explosive memoir of his sordid sexual exploits.

Now it is finally coming to the stage in the edgy Sydney Fringe Festival production Kinski & I, written and performed by CJ Johnson.

“I read it over fifteen years ago and my jaw dropped,” he says.

“I thought the book was so crazy that one day I would have to bring it to an audience.”

Sourcing material from the original manuscript, and from Kinski’s daughter Pola, who alleges that he sexually abused her, Johnson focuses on the candid and disturbing reality of Kinski’s life.

“It has this crazy mad start and then it’s followed with this intense and incredibly difficult reality,” he says.

“Maybe he wasn’t having fun, maybe he was a monster.”

Resonating with the stories of modern celebrities like Rolf Harris and Robert Hughes, the production explores Kinski’s sexual addiction.

“When you first hear all this Kinski stuff it seems funny, but this is sexual addiction, and it gets these people into the worst sort of trouble,” says Johnson.

“It is very much adults only, something you want to approach with an open mind. It’s guaranteed to make your jaw drop.” (SOC)

Sep 3-14, Old 505 Theatre, Suite 505, 342 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills, $18-22, kinskiandi.com.au

BY SHAUNA O’CARROLL