THEATRE
Vlad the Impaler, Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
FOUR STARS
So - is the road to tyranny paved with good intentions of a "my country, 'tis of thee.." kind? Or is that avowal of totalitarian service in the interests of one's nation just an excuse for slaughtering people on a whim (and a stake)? Well, that could all depend on who's writing the history, and creating the image that lingers on, and hardens into fact across the centuries.
If our own times ever think of Vlad the Impaler - who ruled Romania with a blood-mired grip in the 15th century - it's on account of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the fictional vampire apparently based on the legendary medieval gore-meister. However in this mordantly humorous, deftly complex three-hander, written by Richard Crane and directed by Faynia Williams, it's not just a specific episode in history that speaks to us, but the way that history repeats itself over and over in the vicious personalities who abuse both power and the people they govern. Romania's own Ceausescu comes to mind, but the list has grown considerably since his demise and so too has our awareness of them. If the invention of the printing press ensured that Vlad the Impaler's appetite for torture, maiming and slow, painful death sentences was graphically published, our own media networks noise warring barbarities abroad at the press of a 'send' button.
As played by Jack Klaff - all affable reasonableness even at his most menacing - Vlad would have been a mega-star on TV news and talk shows. So persuasive, so caring, when justifying terror in the name of protecting nationhood and maintaining order. Iain Robertson and Anna-Maria Nabirye shape-shift tirelessly from servile minions to the wailing impalees that Vlad - like us - ate his lunch beside. Definitely one to chew over, afterwards!
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