Full of wide-eyed intensity and graphic descriptions of violence, Dwayne Lawler's short play Tokyo Vampire is a surprisingly emotional monologue about love, loss and dreams. A nameless vampire in a nameless city (though we can assume, by his dress and the title of the play, that it is Tokyo) hunts for victims, and finds an off-beat kind of love with a morbid mortal woman. Taking his cue more from Anne Rice than Bram Stoker, Mr. Lawler examines the tragedy of losing one's humanity—both for mortals and the undead.
Yes, it's been done before, and Mr. Lawler doesn't bring much that's new to the standard story. There are few surprises here, and yet the play does not feel like a cliché. By focusing on emotions rather than plot, he creates a unique and interesting story that can appeal to fans of the genre. And to his credit, he does not stretch out his story with needless filler. He has half-an-hour's story to tell, and the play runs for a tight thirty minutes. (On that note, the play might be better served were it paired with another one-act as part of a double bill. While the flat ticket price of $18 is a bargain for the MITF shows, I can't imagine many audiences being happy with paying the same for half-an-hour's entertainment as two hours'.) As a performer, Mr. Lawler is intense and emotional, and if he occasionally goes over the top, it's always within the boundaries of the character. Throughout literature and cinema, vampires are customarily depicted as over-the-top, and no one would ever accuse Bela Lugosi, Tom Cruise, or Gary Oldman of underplaying their iconic vampires. And further to Mr. Lawler' credit, he nicely avoids the pitfalls of camp that would turn an emotional story into a shaggy-dog joke.
That said, the play, and the titular character, could be further fleshed out (and again, pun intended). For example, there is no clear reason in the script for setting the story in Tokyo. Anne Rice places her sensual and passionate vampires in sensual and passionate New Orleans, while Bram Stoker placed his cold and eerie monsters in cold and eerie Transylvania. What is it about Tokyo that reflects (or effects) this vampire? He dresses in a combination of traditional Japanese warrior garb and goth chic—but is Caucasian and speaks with a British accent. Certainly, this could set up more layers of character that could be explored in the monologue. Was the vampire a European émigré to Japan when he was mortal, or did he move to Tokyo after he transformed? Is the vampire actually Japanese, and only appears Caucasian because Mr. Lawler is playing him? There must be a reason for making a play's location titular, otherwise half of the piece seems to be missing. We have the vampire, but what about Tokyo?
While the play would probably appeal more to a goth student than the average theatre-goer, there are the germs of a truly interesting character study in this short piece. With a bit more depth and fleshing-out, Mr. Lawler could have a refreshing new examination of a cliché. If nothing else, Tokyo Vampire is not boring, which places it far ahead of many other theatrical vampire tales.
