Strong performances and a chucklesome script standout in this otherwise clunky vampiric comedy, which at times bites off more than it can chew.
The latest work from award-winning theatre collective Bag of Beard Theatre, The Highgate Vampire is a parody/spoof retelling of the events surrounding a spate of demonic encounters which terrorised Highgate village in 1969. James Demaine and Alexander Knott play Farringdon and Sheffield, the former an occultist tobacconist and the latter a priest. The play follows the two as they attempt to recall the events of 1969 and through song, dance and a great deal of bickering, endeavour to settle which of them slew the Highgate Vampire once and for all.
The production makes good use of the Cockpit theatre space. Performing in the round is challenging, and despite much of the action being dialogue driven, Director Ryan Hutton does does well to use the space effectively. The actors’ movements are fluid and there’s a great deal of shifting perspectives to keep each sightline engaged. The performances themselves are entertaining and dynamic. There is a lot of multi-rolling going on, and the pair shows great skill in characterisation, switching back and forth between different people, often with a drastic change of accent and posture.
The writing is humorous in an old-fashioned way, often verging on farce or pantomime in its delivery. The wordplay between Farringdon and Sheffield is very python-esc, and this is carried off well by Demaine and Knott, who are clearly having fun with the script, which is infectious to the audience.
The lighting and sound elements are well constructed, and when the pair are recalling different parts of the story, the changes in environments are successfully alluded to through these technical elements, as well as through the sparing use and repurposing of props.
Where the production lets itself down is through the coercion of the narrative. The piece feels disjointed, and there’s simply too many ideas seemingly shoved together, often playing out too quickly for there to be the comedic payout that was intended. There is a particular moment involving a chase sequence and a dance break which feels directionless and unnecessary. This is not to say that avant-guard elements are unwelcome, the song that the pair sing about killing vampires, featuring Demaine on the ukulele, is fun and provides nice change of pace. However, the play sprints along with such determination to fit its ideas in, that it ends up feeling more like a variety sketch-show rather than a fluid narrative. The meta-theatrical staging similarly feels out of place, and not enough is achieved through it, save for a rather predictable coda at the end.
However clunky the narrative may be, there is warmth and heart here too. The bravado between the actors is key to its entertainment factor, and the piece pulls that element off without a hitch. The elements that work are strong and combined with the use of space and technical elements, achieve their desired outcome. However, there is no getting away from the fact that the sheer volume of ideas present suffocates the core story.