Review: ST. NICHOLAS at The Midnight Company is a Story of Obsession and Consequences

October brings Halloween and the season of spooky storytelling in St. Louis theater. This month several companies are opening shows with macabre, eerie, ghostly, and ghastly themes.

Last night The Midnight Company opened their weekend run of Conor McPherson’s vampire story St. Nicholas. In addition to Midnight Company’s offering, New Line Theatre will open Bat Boy this weekend, next week The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opens the stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, and later this month Albion Theatre opens J.B. Priestley’s mysterious I Have Been Here Before.

St. Nicholas, starring Joe Hanrahan with direction, lighting, and sound design by Bradley Rohlf, tells the story of a hard drinking, acerbic, late in career theatre critic who is obsessed with a stage ingenue. The pursuit of the actress while in a drunken state leads him from Dublin to London and into a vampire’s lair in McPherson’s supernatural story of obsession and desire.

Originally performed in 1997, St. Nicholas is performed as a monologue by a single actor. Hanrahan, The Midnight Company’s founder and artistic director, takes on the role of the unnamed critic. The well-prepared Hanrahan meanders about the stage, executing Rohlf’s intentional blocking, in a meticulously paced recitation of the Irish playwright’s story. It was clear from Hanrahan’s fluent delivery that he, and Rohlf, had spent an immense amount of time with the script in development and rehearsal.

Hanrahan is a good storyteller. He establishes presence, selectively and appropriately breaks the fourth wall, emotes, projects, articulates and engages his audience directly. Many critics were present for opening night and Hanrahan milked a few laughs early on with McPherson’s scripted words about a critic who is never entertained and rarely satisfied. It was a choice by an experience actor to connect to his audience to earn a few laughs.

Hanrahan peppered his dialogue with a handful of words flavored with an Irish English accent. His delivery included some of the distinct vowel sounds commonly heard with an Irish brogue. He accented and articulated the “th’’ words consistently, changing words like mother to “Mudder,” other became “Udder,” and numerical word like thirty became “turdy.” The pronunciations of the words he accented had a distinct and recognizable Irish sound. As an audience member it is a personal preference for an actor to choose one accent or the other and deliver the dialogue with consistency versus slipping between different dialects.

Rohlf’s imaginative artistry as a lighting and sound designer was on full display. Often the technical contributions in a less busy production become a more obvious part of the storytelling. Intentionality is critical. Rohlf’s lighting shifts and his soundscape are deliberate and purposeful while remaining unobtrusive. His instinctive choices shift mood, create eerie tension, and enhance McPherson’s narrative. It’s quality work that illustrates a director’s vision enhanced by a designer’s effort, taste, and skill. In this case the director and designer are one and the same. 

The Midnight Company’s production of St. Nicholas is built for fans of vampire stories. The story of obsession leads a man to walk down a dark path with irreversible consequence. The script and Hanrahan’s delivery never quite reach a level of creepy macabre, but it is a fascinating story that’s suited to the Halloween season. The Midnight Company’s production of St. Nicholas continues at Greenfinch Theater and Dive Bar through October 5, 2025. Visit midnightcompany.com for more information.