Skip to main content

Review of Let The Right One In at the Apollo Theatre, London

I was in London again sooner than anticipated after getting an opportunity to see an understudy performance (more on this in the next blog), so I took the opportunity to see a play that had just missed out to 1984 (review here) on my previous visit.

Let The Right One at the Apollo could be best described as a vampire romance. Based on the novel and subsequent film (which I have not seen) by John Ajvide Lindqvist it tells the tale of a bullied teen Oskar played by Martin Quinn and his encounter with the mysterious Eli played by Rebecca Benson. What follows is a captivating and charming romance set to a background of vampiric intent.

Quinn, staggeringly making his stage debut, is confident, funny and highly skilled in his performance. This role challenging him to the extreme in both performance and physicality. The final scene at the swimming pool is one of challenge and stamina and Quinn rises to it superbly. Benson as the mysterious Eli is quite simply superb, offering a very special vocalisation and physical movement to the role that is nothing short of a delight. To call scenes in a so-called vampire based play beautiful might seem odd, but that is all that can be said of scenes like the "dance with me" scene between Quinn and Benson. Their scenes together are both captivating and belie their age in the quality of their performance.

The rest of the cast do not drop the standard across the board with Clive Mendus as Eli's "father" both disturbing and sorrowful as he goes about his business of fulfilling Eli's needs. Likewise Susan Vidler as Mum is both in turn funny and sad in her performance.

The set is a wonder to just see on entry to the theatre even before the play begins. Designer Christine Jones has come up a multi-purpose forest which offers through John Tiffany's superb direction all that we need from the play, whether it be forest, sweetshop, swimming pool or bedroom. Indeed the clever switching of scenes in the forest is even joked upon in play: "Never mind the shoes, there's a bed!"

Associate director Steven Hoggett also brings some rather stunning and balletic scenes of choreographed movement to bear which some might say are out of place, but to me are just beautiful (that word again). The music from Olafur Arnalds is perfectly in keeping with the performance, quiet and gentle where needed and terrifyingly powerful when required and yes I jumped! You will know what I mean if you see the play.

Finally a mention of the horror, there is some yes and this for some might be the reason some would not see this play. However the work of the vampire, provided by special effects man Jeremy Chernick, while clearly bloody, happens rarely and for me would not be a reason to miss this delight of a play. This is no bloodbath of a Saw or a Tarantino.

Overall one of the best plays I have seen in the last few months with two of the most talented stars in the leads. A vampire tale with a bite, but more of a love bite, and one you should go and be nibbled by.

Performance viewed: Thursday 7th August 2014 at the Apollo, London.

Let The Right One In continues at the Apollo Theatre, London until 30th August, 2014. Details can be found at http://www.apollotheatrelondon.co.uk/let-the-right-one-in/



Popular posts from this blog

Review of Lord Of The Dance at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The stage show Lord of the Dance possibly needs little introduction to most people, as it has become a legend and now, in this touring version, subtitled rather immodestly, 25 Years of Standing Ovations, it reaches a landmark anniversary. Those that do not know of the show would probably well know its spiritual fathers Michael Flatley, and even more likely Riverdance , from which Lord of the Dance sprung with a proper spring in its step. During the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, Riverdance hit the world by storm as Michael Flatley and his troop of dancers possibly presented the most famous part of Eurovision ever, certainly of the non-singing variety at least. Here, this touring show brings that same style Flatley created from traditional Irish dancing across the country once again and it is truly something special to see. The concept of the show is simply a battle between good and evil told through dance, and some captivating and stunning songs performed by Celyn Cartw...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though,  Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...

Review of My Mother's Funeral: The Show at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The title My Mother's Funeral: The Show is perhaps not the most attractive title for a theatre show, however, this show had great success at the Edinburgh Fringe and now arriving at Royal & Derngate, one of its co-producing theatres, so, let's look beyond the unusual title and see what lies beneath. Abigail is a theatre dramatist pursuing plays that the theatres no longer want. Her "gay bugs in space" saga falls foul of being fiction for a start, something a theatre director states audiences no longer want stating they want gritty, real experiences, theatre with painful truths. So, after Abigail devastatingly loses her mother and finds no money to pay the funeral fees, she pursues the creation of a very personal theatre show. My Mother's Funeral: The Show is gritty and sad, but, also in many ways very funny, if in a dark way. Writer Kelly Jones digs deep into the world of poverty in Dagenham and countless estates across the country. A world of people born in...