Let The Right One In - REX Manchester

Pride is the bank holiday weekend so end of August.

Something light for the summer!

Has anyone been to see this yet? Going next week and not sure what to expect.

I've seen it, not really my kind of thing, but I happened to be in Manchester and this was what was on at the REX so I got a cheap ticket...

It's hard to judge and I haven't seen the film which might have an impact on how others see the play. I think I'm in the wrong demographic - lots of younger people in the audience. it's probably aimed at teens and 20-somethings, so I'm not sure my perspective is useful. I gave it 2 stars, but I'm sure some would have given it 3 or 4.

I liked the design, there was some decent acting, especially from the more menacing characters, and great choreographed scene changes. The violence was done in an interesting way, also well choreographed. For me the relationships and emotional connections between the characters didn't quite work, so it didn't build up to the climax of the play very convincingly.

From what I read it was meant to be a love story between a female vampire and an adolescent boy. To me their relationship felt like more of a sympathetic bonding of two misfits, not as a great passion. I wasn't convinced by the mother/son relationship either - for the plot to make sense he needs to feel totally isolated and be neglected at home, but the mother was likeable and caring, just too busy/stressed to notice her son needed urgent help.

What was very well done, and really difficult to watch (in a good way) was the bullying of the main character at school and his increasing isolation from his (quite menacing) peers. The clinical violence from the older man (sorry I can't remember any character names) was also shocking to watch. Those sections were like watching a different play - much more incisive and emotionally believable than the love story and home life scenes.

I didn't see any blood hit the audience (although I was upstairs), but the cast spend a lot of time mopping the floor between scenes.

Overall it was fairly enjoyable, and had some good moments, but just didn't really hang together emotionally. I don't know if that was down to the writing or direction, or maybe just me being far too old for a teenage vampire romance