Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Vampomine’, which is at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry until Saturday 2nd January
In the main auditorium at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre this year you can see ‘Beauty and the Beast’; whilst next-door in the studio it’s more a case of ‘Beauty and The Teeth’.
It’s a great idea. What would happen if a group of theatrical vampires decided to do a Pantomime? Would the transformation scene be replaced by a transfusion scene? Would it be ‘out’ with the pantomime cat and ‘in’ with the pantomime bat?
Nick Walker has dug into the darker recesses of his wicked mind to create an unholy show full of festive fun and festering gags; as the undead entertain the unwashed in B2.
Some of his ideas are terrific. It hadn’t occurred to me before but of course Vampires hate Christmas. All those mentions of baby Jesus must be simply soul curling. And the glare of lottery-funded lights is surely too much to bear. But the one thing vampires have in common with humans is that they are prepared to suffer for their art. The show must go on.
But it can’t start until you get on stage; which is tricky for a vampire because you have to be ‘invited in’; cue for plenty of audience participation.
The panto itself is not short of ketchup and Walker’s script includes time-honoured jokes about Coventry’s iconic horsewoman (it must be a bit nippy this time of year), the city’s salubrious car parks and the rather fine view from the Ikea canteen. And where in the Midlands are we going to find a teenage virgin? (Leamington Spa, apparently).
Jack Trow is suitably scary-but-kindly as the beastly Vladimer, desperately searching for a human tear drop to end his torment. Graeme Rose is hopelessly unglamorous as the bosomy Vampomime Dame and Katy Stephens is excellent as the overalled, Principal Boy car worker who keeps having factories closed under her…sorry, him!
Which brings me to the human interest. Miriam Grace Edwards is hired by the vamps to play the blonde and buxom Beauty, a loveable Welsh librarian and a true virgin (and we’re not talking trains). Can her innocence save them all from eternal hell?
The show pops and fizzes with imagination; though, inevitably in short-form theatre, the ideas don’t all get fully developed. There is a rough and ready air to proceedings … rather like a late-bar revue. But there is plenty to amuse those who are generous of spirit. And it is Christmas….
Christopher Lee (yes, really!).
Photo : Nicola Young
Visit www.belgrade.co.uk for bookings & more information about Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre