This show begins promisingly enough as we are introduced with a screen playing black and white grainy footage of our two heroes in a cemetery with eerie music accompanying. This is a sign that the production will be referring back to older theatrical traditions, though the play is set in 1970s London and references supposed sightings of the supernatural which fed media interest at the time.
It parodies two occultists of the case who had a long-running feud. First we meet Patrick Sheffield in full bishop’s regalia, proudly commanding an audience of the Centre for Locating of Occult Knowledge to explain how he and he alone slayed the Highgate Vampire. We expect a sort of anthropological explanation as the notice tells us: ‘The Lecture Will Begin Shortly.’
Sheffield is troubled by the arrival of his unruly rival, hippy David Farringdon, with long hair and beads, proposing a shamanic alternative to the bishop’s exorcism procedures. They both believe Highgate is ‘the centre of demonic activity.’
Thus the tried and trusted structure of straight man and funny man is set up with the bishop supposedly serious and full of intent while Farringdon is more rock and roll with his approach and has to be reined in. This Laurel and Hardy approach is funny because, of course, both of them are bumbling idiots, their attempts to outdo each other are ridiculous. The vampire is less interesting than their quarrelling about it.
They go through some of the events which were recounted at the time such as a dog being killed and a teenager having visions of the dead rising. On the way to locating what they call ‘the v-word’ the stumbling duo don drag to play hairdresser Lisa who encountered a figure with ‘eyes like hot coals’ and housewife Mrs Battersby, whose council flat is on the same ley lines as Highgate cemetery, and is supposedly witness to supernatural events. Playing these characters who have to be nudged into giving evidence allows the actors to camp it up with high voices and double entendres in this adult farce.
There is an unlikely break for a song with a ukulele, with lines like ‘My final trick’s the crucifix’ and physical comedy when Sheffield wants Satan to get behind him, Farringdon wants the devil in front where he can see him.
The question is: are things what they seem, is there or has there ever been a vampire? Is Sheffield really a bishop or is he a milkman dressing up? Is Faringdon a psychic investigator or a tobacconist?
The show starts to droop about half way through, but this is the fault of the script not the acting. The two tackle the material valiantly and pull out every bit of mirth they can.
Venue: Omnibus Theatre
Playwright: James Demaine and Alexander Knott
Director: Ryan Hutton
Cast: Alexander Knott, James Demaine, Zoe Grain
Running time: 70 minutes
Until: 30 December 2025