Review: THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE, Omnibus Theatre

London, 1970s. The media explode: a vampire roams the streets of Highgate. Bag of Beard Theatre bring their own brand of dark humour to one of London’s most baffling 20th-century frenzies. They reimagine the events, teaming up a bishop and a tobacconist – purity and sin – in a crusade against evil.

Written and performed by James Demaine and Alexander Knott, it’s hilarious, and grim, and totally bonkers. Bickering yet poetic storytelling is at the heart of this scrumptious pastiche. We meet the duo under the pretext of attending a lecture at C.L.O.A.K. – the Centre for the Location of the Occult and Arcane Knowledge, very clever.

Whimsical gloom permeates the play, but we catch glimpses of profound reflections. A blink-and-you-miss-it rumination on the nature of God is the most striking (and quick), but there are plenty of smaller nuggets that root the piece in the philosophical. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a shame they aren’t more developed, but it’s a reasonable choice.

Knott (Sheffield) and Demaine (Farringdon) delight with a clash of personalities: Demaine brings the atmosphere, Knott fights to ground it and ultimately gives in to the shenanigans. While the acerbic clergyman and the exuberant demon hunter wannabe are more similar than they obviously think, fear not, the show doesn’t end up in any unlikely friendships or what-have-you. It remains true to its twisty self.

Ryan Hutton directs with a flair for the dramatic, adding a good dose of camp whenever he can. Direct address leads the exposition, but leaves space for the reenactment of the witness accounts (often in cross-dress, consistently rib-tickling). The series of vignettes is controlled chaos, blasphemous enough to be automatically funny and delectably paced. The humour is relentless. A punny, winding script subtly teases the narrative outcome with in-your-face jokes and more hidden irony.

“Audrey the Technician” (producer Zöe Grain) is the only extra member of the cast, a chance for the actors to engage beyond the fourth wall and an added line of laughter. The character increases the meta-theatrical slant of the production, introducing light and sound effects at the pair’s call. The result is an endlessly amusing pitch-black comedy full of eccentric charm. Bag of Beard do it again.

The Highgate Vampire runs at Omnibus Theatre until 30 December.