James Demaine and Alexander Knott - appearing on stage as Farringdon and Sheffield respectively - have created an original show based on events that seem too farcical to be true.
And yet, you will walk out and check the history websites about the Highgate Vampire, only to discover there was indeed a mob of people in 1970 who tried to expel a supposed spectre.
What really amazed me, when reading the programme, was learning that when they workshopped the play, members of the audience included people who attended the mobbing. In their discussions they agreed how the show was indeed similar to real-life events - yes, people were stuffing garlic in corpses to stop them rising from the dead. This ridiculous story at Highgate Cemetery makes a wonderful piece of theatre on a cold Winter evening.
You think you've bought a ticket to a play, but Sheffield is convinced you've come to his lecture. It's a great and clever premise that allows crossover between the stage and the audience - much like a spectre drifting between the realms.
With excellent sound and lighting, the production shifts effortlessly between lecture and reenactment. The cast take on the roles of witnesses, and revel in putting on their best Cornish accent, parading as young women, and portraying a difficult widow.
This is the story of a Priest and a Tobacconist, in the round, for seventy minutes. It's absurd to be sitting in the audience and being the first person to be blessed for coming along.
The characterisation from Knott and Demaine is impeccable. They are both so strong in their commitment to their parts, they don't falter. I must also commend them, because you can hear them perfectly (even when they're standing on the opposite side of the stage with no microphones). I couldn't find a single fault in their work.
The script, well, I wish I had the lexicon. There's an atmospheric description that is so long that it becomes a joke (and a very good one), yet it's so brilliantly written. It sets the scene hauntingly and highlights from the outset that these are two characters who will take the ordinary and imagine the extraordinary.
The show mixes song, dance, and even a séance to bring the story to life. The jokes about wet lettuce, Peruvian bears, and playing Ophelia in school are great bits too.
This tongue-in-cheek, well-written masterpiece of comedy is well worth a trip to the theatre. I also love that all the sound and music is original too.
My only criticisms were the cheap outfits (the cassock and cross look like a Halloween costume), and not doing a full job on decorating the inside of the crate on stage. With a touch more realism, this meta-theatre could truly blur between play and lecture, and keep the audience guessing just that little bit more.
Review: James Dix