Vampire

by Snoo Wilson

Paperback

First published August 1, 1984

About the author

Snoo Wilson (born Andrew James Wilson) was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist and director who presented an apologia for Aleister Crowley in the TV series 'Without Walls.' He was a founder of the experimental Portable Theatre Company, and served as dramaturge to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should start by saying that Snoo Wilson's plays are not meant to be read - they are meant to be performed. As such, the act of sitting down and reading Vampire can be daunting. It is hard to imagine the chaos of Mrs. Sugg’s séance parlor/brothel, or the wonder of seeing a nativity play with two psychoanalysts playing the Wise Men. Even harder to imagine is the doubling in casting – with six actors playing 23 characters, the echoes and repetitions in this play reverberate insistently.

In his preface to a collected volume of his work, Wilson states “My instinct in play-making is to provide a further viewpoint, to delight and amaze, to reach out beyond death and linear logic in a way which permits a dream resolution.” Vampire is a rollicking riot of a play – it sweeps through history and geography with the same wild energy and lack of concern for the accepted rules of What Theatre Is. As it rushes along, tumbling through the past two centuries, we are left with the choice of allowing ourselves to be carried forward by it or to stand to the side and watch the wild blur. Personally, I find the ride to be intoxicating.