This fascinating one-actor play, staged at Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, is extraordinarily difficult to categorise. It’s about vampires, it’s about the theatre, it’s about moral cowardice, it’s about what makes people happy. It is written by Conor McPherson and was first performed back in 1997, the year that his most famous play The Weir was also first staged. It is a bravura performance by Nick Danan who holds the stage for nearly two hours, switching effortlessly between different tones – confessional, confrontational, narrative, care-worn.
The play begins as the story of an Irish theatre critic whose arrogance leads him to a moment of dishonesty that shatters his reputation. However, in the second half, the story morphs into an unexpected tale of suburban vampires in London. Danan unravels this bizarre sequence of events with nothing but a red curtain, a high stool, a low table, and a bottle of what is presumably water (though, as a critic myself, I kept wishing it was a soothing glass of Bushmills).
Danan’s character at the beginning of the piece is that of the worst sort of critic – one who delights in his own way with words and uses it to shred the work of creators. McPherson strongly implies that this tendency to indulge in the vicious critical tirade is born out of his jealousy of the creative spark in those who write and perform. He talks of the critic’s search for a big idea of his own. And yet an immature need to be seen as “one of the gang” also drives his behaviour and that is what leads him to the action that ultimately proves to be his undoing. The first half of the play is all too believable and revealing.
The second half of the play takes a sharp turn, shifting into a bizarre and surreal sequence that leaves the audience to interpret how it connects to the themes explored earlier. Having fled Dublin in disgrace, the critic encounters a vampire in London, who grants him charm and recruits him to lure young people back to a house where vampires feed on their energy—without apparently harming them. As a reviewer, I felt uneasy with this second theme. My role is to ‘lure’ people into the theatre to experience the power of performance, but is this a metaphor for the life-enhancing link between performers and their audience, or are performers like vampires, living off the energy of those who watch them? While I find this idea disagreeable, there is no denying the spellbinding power of Danan’s performance in this section. The supernatural elements of the story almost feel real in his hands.
As an evening at the theatre, this is an intense and thought-provoking performance from a fine actor. As a play, however, it is less satisfying. While McPherson’s command of language is undeniable, the disjunction between the two halves of the story leaves much unexplored. Perhaps the inclusion of a second performer could help provide a fuller exploration of the themes?
By Conor McPherson
Director: Ed Hulme
Performer: Nick Danan
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes (Incl short interval)
Dates: until 5 January 2025
Photographs: Strange Fish Theatre Company