Samuel Sims - October 31, 2015 - Younger Theatre
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/review-l ... t-theatre/Just in time for Halloween, Jack Bowman has brought Thorne’s script to the stage once again. I don’t think anyone in their right mind should or would try and top what has been. If it’s not broken – don’t fix it. At the same time, if you’re a fan and an able creative, why not follow on from such a winner?
The events originally taking place in Sweden in both John Ajvide Lindquist’s novel and the 2008 film have now moved to an isolated, undisclosed English town. Oskar (Louis Krommenhoek) is tormented at school and lives with his single mother who drinks too much rose wine at tea-time. A string of murders and the arrival of neighbour Eli (Ruth Newberry-Payton) changes both the community and Oskar’s lives forever.
Oskar and Eli are, funnily enough central to the action of Let the Right One In. Krommenhoek and Newberry-Payton’s time on stage is plentiful and whilst they (sort of) play children, their scenes become increasingly but quietly intense. Eli is a difficult character to portray. She looks like a young girl, has some of the same traits, wants and needs as a teenager but, as her friend persistently but endearingly moans, she occasionally acts like an “old person”. In Tiffany’s production, she was imagined as detached, warming gradually through the story and likewise with the 2008 film. Here Newton-Payton has given us a much more predictable and ‘normal’ personality that matches her young aesthetic. Initially she is confused by Oskar’s shy but boyish ways, having been closed off from other human beings, bar her ‘minder’ for who knows how long, but as the story graduates we see her competing with Oskar in the immaturity stakes (see sweet shop, monkey scene). I perhaps expected/hoped the character would make me feel more unsettled but ultimately I very much like what Newberry-Payton has done with Eli. A scene in which Oskar first hugs her is brilliant, highlighting especially the chemistry between the two.
Didn't see anyone else reference this play, so I thought I would share the information.