Performed at The Cockpit 28 January - 1 February 2026
A review by Michelle Olley
Well, that was a delightful romp, despite a loyal terrier meeting a sticky end.
Fans of arcane knowledge and Charles Fort will likely know all about the tale of the Highgate Vampire. It’s a literal urban legend that had mini-skirted maidens a-fainting and star-jumpered teenagers a-grave bothering from the late sixties well into the mid seventies. Ridiculous business perhaps, but two demon hunters - David Farrant and Sean Manchester - took it deadly serious. These two likely lads quickly took against each other and quickly became rivals in the vampire hunting business. No-one came away from this proto Satanic panic covered in glory.
This play - the first production from our new Stephen Joseph mentoring programme (for emerging theatremakers working in-the-round) - appropriately enough, circles and swirls around this story in a flurry of presented ‘evidence’, tall tales, desecration and criminal damage. Bishop Patrick Sheffield and Daniel Farringdon are loosely based on these two live ones, embodied with relish by Alexander Knott and James Demaine respectively.
Knott and Demaine have their work cut out. The story is as twisty as a graveyard yew tree, with laughs-a-plenty in their Pythonesque renditions of “Cor, me n’all” dolly birds, old dears and Cockney geezers who bore witness to ‘these ‘ere ‘orrible sights’. It’s supposed to be a lecture laying out all the evidence, but I’ve never sat through a lecture like this one - except perhaps in a cheese dream.
I would argue that this was not a two - or a three - hander (let’s not forget their spunky stagehand Audrey, played by Zöe Grain), but technically a four hander. The round really pulls its magical weight here, adding extra ritual heft to the demon conjuring and exorcism disco. Kudos to director Ryan Hutton for really making the most of the space and also to music and sound designer Samuel Heron for laying it on just the right amount of thick.
It’s a bit of a curse to new comedians that the ghosts of Beloved Comics Past will inevitably be conjured up like joke shop measuring sticks to beat you with - especially if you set your stage in the 1970s. A bit unfair, really. However, comedy is one of those arts where craft is A Thing, and you need to do your porridge with small-budget-big-balls productions like this one to be up there with the comedy duo greats like Eric & Ernie, Dawn & Jennifer, Vic & Bob, Ian & Wee Jimmy Krankie etc.
Alex and James are in exactly the same magical space as The League of Gentlemen back in 1994, when they brought a pre-League comedy called This is It! to The Cockpit round. Have they got what it takes to make it to the big leagues/League? Absolutely. Even though this Play What They Wrote is no cakewalk, with its whirlwind of characters, rat-a-tat jokes, dashing about and reciting arcane lore, they are having FUN. And judging from the steady stream of chuckles from the audience, it’s landing. Is it breaking new ground? Not really, unless you count the ground around the coffins in Highgate, but it’s no less enjoyable for that. I’m certainly going to keep an eye on these two. I’d love to see what they can come up with a bigger costume budget to sink their fangs into.
Watch this space. And if you see a pair of red eyes - ward ‘em off with garlic. It’s probably one of us lot, after our February staff Christmas party…
Michelle Olley
Michelle is The Cockpit's press officer and is also a producer, writer, artist, cosmic dreamer and lover of dogs.
She is also one of our duty managers, so she's in the building a lot. If you liked this review, let her know!
FUN FACT. Michelle stars in the Spice Girls' WANNABE video!
THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE played at The Cockpit 28 January - 1 February 2026
Written and performed by Alexander Knott and James Demaine
Directed by Ryan Hutton
Sound Design by Samuel Heron
Produced and Presented by Bag Of Beard Theatre
Supported by The Cockpit as part of The Stephen Joseph Transfer
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