Chilling, heart-warming, breathlessly beautiful

The Darlinghurst Theatre Company will mount one of its most challenging and evocative productions to date – Let The Right One In – adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne. The TONY and BAFTA-winning writer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Shameless and Skins based his script on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s best-selling 2004 novel.

Let The Right One In is quintessentially Nordic noir. Violent, macabre, unnerving; it blurs the line between supernatural evil and the darkest elements of human nature.

There have been several film and television adaptations, and the better ones have been unflinching in their depiction of the haunting, stark Swedish landscape and extreme, very graphic violence.

On the stage, however, productions need to strike a delicate balance between emotional nuance and Shakespearean-level bloodbath. Thorne’s script retains Lindqvist’s unmitigated horror, while allowing room to explore the themes of adolescent discovery, feelings of displacement, intolerance, uncontrolled anger and love in all its wondrous forms.

Directed by Alexander Berlage who brought American Psycho: The Musical to the stage (at The Hayes), Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Let The Right One In has, in its central roles, two incredibly talented, versatile performers: Will McDonald and Sebrina Thornton-Walker.

McDonald plays Oskar, a young, awkward boy who is ruthlessly bullied. He lives with his mother in an unappealing neighborhood on the edge of town. When a strange young girl, Eli (Thornton-Walker) moves in next door, she and Oskar are immediately drawn to each other by their mutual alienation from society.

“I think, at its heart, what you’ve got is a really tender, beautiful, teenage romance and coming of age story, with some super cool, horror and supernatural elements sprinkled on top. But I would say at the core of it, it’s really a beautiful love story between two outsiders who find a kind of hope – not only for themselves, but also for a better world and a better life – in each other,” says McDonald, giving his take on the play.

Thornton-Walker agrees, adding, “It’s a very hauntingly beautiful show, and as much as it is a vampire story or a supernatural story, it really does speak a lot on humanity and how love affects us and what people will do for love … It’s a wonderfully diverse show in all forms of that word.”

The violence and horror that occur on stage are vivid but not gratuitous, nor overly graphic. Both actors feel that the juxtaposition of this violence with the tenderness of their relationship intensifies each thing.

“I feel like you can’t have successful dark moments in a show if there aren’t beautiful light moments … like it would be a very exhausting experience. This show does have wonderful moments of sunshine that really do contrast with those horrific moments of darkness. And so, without giving anything away, it’s a whirlwind of emotions. A bit of a rollercoaster and I think that’s what makes the show so beautiful,” explains Thornton-Walker.

McDonald believes that the mix of elements gives it ambiguity, which begs certain philosophical questions.

“Where is the horror element coming from? Is it coming from what we perceive to be the supernatural and the inhuman, or is that violence […] coming from a place of very deep humanity. And what is our own role or complicity in allowing those acts of violence or excusing those acts of violence?”

McDonald and Thornton-Walker were close friends before being cast in this show, and that helped a lot in terms of feeling comfortable with each other and being able to try different things with their characters.

To prepare for their respective roles, McDonald went back to source material, especially the book, but ultimately relied on the script itself; Thornton-Walker, who is trans, already felt an affinity with Eli, and used much of her own life experience to inform the character.

Neither actor wants to give too much away in terms of production elements, but (despite their earlier disclaimer) they do say there is “lots and lots of blood”. Also, a lot of theatre magic, including a “cheeky theatre trick” to make it appear as if they are exhaling cold air.

McDonald makes particular reference to the original music (James Peter Brown) and sound design (Daniel Herten).

“The music and the soundscape of the show … like, I think sonically it’s really going to aid in creating that world for people. It’s quite special.”

Thornton-Walker adds, “The discussions of horror and violence shouldn’t put anyone off. In the end, this is a sensitive story of two disenfranchised people who find each other. And it is a seat-gripping thriller. Whether or not you are familiar with the story via the book, film, TV series or have seen the play before, the Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s version of Let The Right One In promises something new.”

“This production is wonderfully diverse in the [sense] of our cast, our crew and our interpretation of the script. I think that’s quite a refreshing twist on this story that has been needed – and it lives within the text; it just hasn’t been done this way before. I think it’s going to touch a lot of people.”

October 7 – November 20

Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst

www.darlinghursttheatre.com/lettherightonein