**** Theatre critics and vampires aren't quite the same
Conor McPherson's fine, bizarre monologue about hack journalists and the undead receives its Edinburgh première
A drunken, obnoxious, lecherous Dublin theatre critic follows a beautiful young actress to London, where he finds himself pimping for a household of vampires. This doesn't sound like standard territory for master monologue-writer Conor McPherson, but it includes the elements of introspection, acerbic humour and shadows of subtext that we have come to expect from this fine writer.
Peter Dineen gives an often rumbustious performance, so that one sometimes worries that the changes of register in the more sombre and reflective passages might jar, but by and large he handles the transitions excellently. As with most of McPherson's pieces, the character establishes an easy rapport with the audience, so that we willingly follow him when he delves deeper into himself. It's not a tale of horror or suspense (the group of Gothettes in the audience at the performance I saw may have been disappointed), but it is a substantial, thought-provoking piece of writing, given a performance to match.
Written for divento.com
Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.
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