Sink your teeth into this vampire extravaganza from Malthouse Theatre.
The Malthouse theatre’s new production of Nosferatu exudes sultry intoxication to a breath-taking degree, striking the audience in a trance just as the titular character bewitches the actors on stage. Equal parts schlock horror, hilarious camp and surprising social commentary, Nosferatu reinvents the age-old vampire tale for a modern, and most importantly, Australian audience.
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Written by Keziah Warner and directed by Bridget Balodis, the play welcomes you into the gothic world of Nosferatu with an aesthetically accurate set. Designed by Romanie Harper, the stage awns forward with zig-zagging, grey and white patterns, almost hypnotising to the eye. Six identical doors adorn the back wall, often used for spooky entrances and glimpses into other worlds. It feels moody and chic, but also like you have walked straight into an 80s horror movie set.
As the story unfolds, we follow the small, Tasmanian town of Bluewater, a forgotten place in need of financial assistance. Hope appears in the form of a mysterious benefactor from Sydney: Orlock. Naive Tom, played by Keegan Joyce, travels up north only to find that Sydney is far more gothic than you’d expect. Lured into the snare of Jacob Collins-Levy’s take on the classic vampire, this begins the inevitable doom of the entire town of Bluewater as each upstanding citizen succumbs to the seduction of blood.
The story takes many twists and turns as it unfolds in invigorating and creative ways. Numerous pivotal scenes revolve around the dining table which shines brightly from its top: blood, wine and unnerving chat spill across it. The use of lighting is moody, often reds and purples, but assists in evoking the sense of timelessness that some movies have when watched on VHS.
The most surprising feature of Nosferatu is, in fact, its humour. No cultural cringe is garnered from its re-contextualisation to an Australian setting, the relatable setting isn’t dwelled upon too heavily and even helps in constructing the campiness of this world. For an audience to sit in unnerved silence as a vampire sucks out a man’s blood, only to just as quickly laugh at a sublimely well-timed joke is a testament to the well-balanced script by Warner.
This balance couldn’t have been carried out by a better cast. Jacob Collins-Levy shines in the titular role, never missing a beat and always commanding an intoxicating presence on stage, as his character would demand. Shamita Siva, acting as the driven local journalist that becomes the apple of Orlock’s eye, gives their character a hard demeanour amidst a well-cultivated softness: the audience wonder what they may or may not do throughout the play.
Dash the notion away that this production of Nosferatu is simply rehashing old ideas: its use of a well-established fable to comment on the decline of rural Australia, the MeToo movement and the corrupting influence of power feel fresh through the lens of a classic vampire story.
Nosferatu runs until March 5, grab your tickets by heading here.
