Black Swan State Theatre Company are thrilled to present the Australian premiere of the critically acclaimed stage thriller 'Let the Right One In'.
Based on the novel and film by John Ajvide Lindqvist, ‘Let The Right One In’ tells the story of a friendship between a boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire.
“I’ve been describing it to people as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with fangs,” Artistic Director, Clare Watson explains. “Oskar is the victim of really intense and awful bullying, and he meets this girl, Eli, who is quite strange, speaks weirdly, smells strange and behaves quite differently to all of the other kids, and they end up having this peculiar and beautiful friendship.”
What Oskar doesn’t know is that Eli has been a teenager for a very, very long time. When a spate of sinister killings rocks their neighbourhood, Oskar’s and Eli’s lives become further entwined.
“Eli is a vampire of over 200 years, and the person that she has had as essentially her worker bee – the male companion who has been finding her blood – is getting too old to do his job, and she’s seeking somebody new. So the friendship with Oskar is partly about her finding somebody new to work for her so she can continue to survive her vampiric lifestyle.”
Adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne for The National Theatre of Scotland, ‘Let The Right One In’ received rave reviews when it premiered in London in 2013. Securing the Australian premiere is not only a tremendous coupe for Black Swan, but also marks Clare’s Black Swan directional debut.
“We are the first company outside of The National Theatre of Scotland to produce this work, which is thrilling and very, very exciting. Having been in the company for a year now, I can’t wait for audiences to see the work that I create with the team on stage. It feels like a big, ambitious, bold project and I’m nervously respectful of the whole beast.”
Cast in the lead roles of Eli and Oskar are Sophia Forrest, who landed a three-year contract on Channel 9’s hit show ‘Love Child’ after graduating from WAAPA and Noongar actor and writer, Ian Michael, who won Best Emerging Indigenous Artist at the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Awards.
“I had anticipated that Eli would be the most challenging role to cast and then I met Sophia. While she appears to be quite young, she is the kind of person who has this strength, wisdom and power that really betrays her years, and that’s what this role requires.
“Ian is one of those actors who is always vulnerable and available to an audience and to the other actors on stage, so he felt like a very natural choice for Oskar. He plays a strength and a fragility at the same time, and so can show us resilience in the face of bullying, but also the torment of it.”
Despite its ‘Some adult themes, horror’ warning and suitability rating of 15+, Clare believes the production doesn’t play the horror genre too hard.
“It’s a little bit terrifying and a little bit sexier than what you’d expect to see at the theatre and I think more than many works, this theatre show will absolutely appeal to a late teens through to thirties audience.
“There’s blood and there’s some quite gruesome moments, but we’re not constantly terrorised by the threat of these graphic and dreadful instances. I think the genre becomes part of the landscape of it, and what we’re focused on is a coming of age love story.”
