Timed for the spooky season, the well-regarded Bag of Beard troupe brings their mix of terror and laughs to Tobacco Factory Theatres on October 8. Their new production, titled “The Highgate Vampire,” is the first of four performances that depicts 1970s vampire hunters in the ‘dark heart of Highgate’.
The Story Behind The Highgate Vampire
Alex Knott, co-writer of the play, spoke about the outrageous tale that inspired it. “In the late 1960s and 1970s, there were two occult practitioners who were both competing to be the figurehead of the Highgate Vampire-hunting movement,” he said. One claimed to be a priest of the ‘old Catholic Church’ and a licensed exorcist, and the other ran a tobacconist and was known as a psychic investigator.
Additionally, a podcast documentary called My Father, The Vampire Hunter has been released, telling the supposedly true story of what happened in Highgate, offering a unique perspective on the events that inspired the play.
According to Knott, “dozens of amateur vampire hunters descended on Highgate Cemetery at the height of the mania and dug up graves searching for the Vampire!” A podcast documentary called My Father, The Vampire Hunter has been released, telling the supposedly true story of what happened in Highgate.
Blurring the Line Between Horror and Comedy
Knott explained that the play uses the true story as a starting point and swerves more into heightened fiction as it goes on. When asked about the relationship between horror and comedy, he said, “we discovered that once you bring the lights down and start to get eerie, you can generate a sense of unease through music and sound, as well as some very atmospheric storytelling.”
The play’s director, Ryan Hutton, worked to find the precise balance between silly and spooky, with a tone somewhere between hammer horror and The Goon Show. The show is full of gags, but also has moments where it aims to tingle some spines and draw out the real horror of what happened.
Conjuring the Dark Streets of 1970s London
In terms of production, the company’s ethos is about original words and original music. The play comes out of an old antique steamer trunk, and storytelling is done through characterisation and costume. The composer, Samuel Heron, has created dynamic 1970s-style music and sound design that lends to the atmospheric flavour.
The Highgate Vampire is at Tobacco Factory Theatres on October 8-10 at 7.30pm, with an additional 2.30pm matinee show on Saturday. Tickets are available at tobaccofactorytheatres.com. So we will be telling you a spooky story that should leave you feeling slightly creeped out on your way home from the theatre!