By Katie Stobbart (The Cascade) – Email
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom
By Charles Busch
Directed by Mandy Dyck (UFV)
Running time: 60 minutes
Showings: Saturday at 10:45 p.m. and Sunday at 8:45 p.m.
Warning: Foul language, sexual content, girl-on-girl kissing, and some neck-biting
Given the evocative title, it doesn’t seem surprising that the crowd of ticket-holders began to line up 15 minutes early for the promised neck-biting action. Indeed, the detailed set and flamboyant costumes promised a good show.
The acting was mostly strong, with the exception of would-be starlet Renée Vain’s distractingly inconsistent and probably unnecessary British accent. The actors were clearly connected with their characters and it was fun to watch.
The play has scenes in biblical times, in the era of silent films, and in the present; time gaps were well established through costume changes and cues in the dialogue. That said, the set changes took too long, resulting in a disjointed feel to the flow.
At no fault of the actors, the script had some large flaws that drew me out of the story. For example, I had no idea why Astarte launched into a lengthy explanation of her vampiric evolution when it seemed la Condessa already knew what had happened. I also found a lot to nitpick in the dialogue and the semantics of vampirism (adhering to all the traditional vampire myths was all well and good until both vamps checked themselves out in a mirror – oops).
I was expecting stronger tension and possibly attraction between the vampiresses by the end, but that was largely underplayed. Something I did find pleasantly ironic was the shortage of young virgins in Hollywood while infamous hotbeds of sin, Sodom and Gomorrah, had enough to put together a lottery!
Overall there were some laughs, some hip-thrusting, some decent acting, but the show did not live up to the hype.
Cast included Rachael Mah, Alexandra Schuurman, Natasha Thompson, Darrenbir Athwal, Darcy Knopp and Liam Archer.
