Review: BUFFY REVAMPED, Wilton's Music Hall

This may only be 70 minutes, but Brendan Murphy fits an impressive volume of content into his performance. Fast talking, crass and engaging, Murphy emerges in a blast of energy as his version of Spike, a character from popular 1990s show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

From the outset of the performance there is some level of audience participation - so be warned if you choose to sit in the front row of the theatre! There are 90's references throughout, peppered into the song choices and video segments with sound and video design by James Nicholson and Bruno Collins respectively. However, without at least some knowledge of the canon of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, much of the humour would be lost. For the target audience there are jokes aplenty and comedy to be found in the nostalgia and the impact that the change in cultural attitudes over the past twenty years has had on our memory of the show.

The concept of the show is the telling of all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as seen from the perspective of Spike. Brendan Murphy had previously used this same concept in his show Friend telling the series of Friends from the perspective of Gunther from the coffee shop.

Although there are many incredible humourous references and a vast amount of storytelling included within a relatively short show. The character of Angel being portrayed as a coat hanger is a wonderful joke which perfectly captures the way in which Spike would portray Angel in his telling of events. Likewise, the commentary on the absurdity of some of the details of the original show such as the the business model of a nightclub which only serves minors or what ever happened to an escaped dragon were incredibly funny.

However, some elements of the show unfortunately do not land as well as others. Some of the character portrayals, especially the female ones, felt forced and, knowing the source material, it was hard to understand the inspiration for the character choices.

The conclusion of the show told in song parody form based on REM's "It's The End Of World As We Know It" was a great way to close the show on top form and ensured that there is absolutely no doubt in anybody's mind - Brendan Murphy knows how to entertain an audience.

Buffy Revamped is at Wilton's Music Hall until 13 January, then touring

Photo credit: Steve Ullathorne

To post a comment, you must register and login.