Apex Predator by John Donnelly. Hampstead theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London until 29 April 2025, 3☆☆☆: Review: William Russell.
Photo Credit: Ellie Kurtz.
Apex Predator by John Donnelly. Hampstead theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London until 29 April 2025,
3☆☆☆: Review: William Russell.
“Intriguing, unsettling.”
There are times I wonder whatever happened to actors who could hit the back of the gods when delivering their lines because the cast of this intriguing thriller about vampires and parenthood could do with a few elocution lessons in how to do it. Their frequent inaudibility does detract from the evening and one can tell when the front half is laughing and the back section is not that something is wrong. So bang goes that fourth star. Mia has a new baby. The man in the flat upstairs plays loud music and is driving her mad. Her eleven year old son Alfie is acting up at school and has been biting other children, while husband Joe, who works odd hours and has a top secret job, is no help. Alfie's teacher Ana invites Mia to discuss things and turns out to be a vampire. Meanwhile there are gruesome murders taking place round town and Joe, it seems, is engaged in on line searches about those.. But is it all in Mia's imagination? Is Ana really a blood sucker and is Alfie another of her problems? Is it just that with a new arrival after 11 years is upsetting him? Or is he really sinister and, if so, what will adolesence be like. Apex Predator is interesting, occasionally frightening, and the enigmatic ending strikes just the right degree of chill to send one out into the night intent on avoiding the shadows. But it is all a bid of a muddle. However the cast play well – when you can hear them – and it has its rewards as well as an ingenious set by Tom Piper. It is also smoothly directed by Blanche McIntyre who gets it over the bumpy bits.
Cast
Leander Deeny – Nan on train, doctor, man in park, neighbour, Victor, Gil
Bryan Dick – Joe
Sophie Melville – Mia
Laura Whitmore – Ana
Callum Knowelden – Alfie on press night. Or Lorgan Reilly
Creatives
Director – Blanche McIntyre
Designer – Tom Piper
Lighting Designer – Jack Knowles
Sound Designer – Christopher Shutt
Movement & Intimacy Director – Ingrid Mackinnon
Fight Director – Philippe D'Orleans
