The story of Oskar, a bullied Swedish boy whose strange nocturnal friend Eli has a blood-curdling secret, exercises a thematic pull that goes well beyond vampire tropes. It delves evocatively into issues of gender and sexuality, love and servitude, loneliness and revenge, and anyone who has read the novel by John-Ajvide Lindqvist or seen the film by Tomas Alfredson can testify to its haunting Nordic chill. The idea of a stage adaptation directed by Alexander Berlage (Hayes Theatre Co’s Young Frankenstein, Cry-Baby and American Psycho) thrills with the promise of unlocking all the genderqueer possibilities of this coming-of-age fairytale.
Darlinghurst Theatre Company is presenting the stage version of Let the Right One In adapted by Jack Thorne, UK playwright of no lesser work than Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. “It’s a full-blooded, gorgeously realised love story that retains its humanity even in its most feral moments,” wrote Time Out London’s reviewer. Will McDonald takes on the role of Oskar, Sebrina Thornton-Walker is the ambiguous Eli, and the supporting cast includes Matthew Whittet and Monica Sayers. You’d be madder than a gaggle of rampaging cats to miss it.