★★★☆☆No matter the medium, it is the initially awkward and strangely, ambiguously tender core relationship that grounds this vampiric adolescent love story by the Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. Published in 2004, Lindqvist’s novel has been adapted for the big screen twice, including by the author himself, and this month a TV series began on Paramount+. Jack Thorne’s stage version premiered in Dundee nearly a decade ago, later transferring successfully to the West End. Now comes Bryony Shanahan’s reasonably involving new production for the Royal Exchange, aptly timed for spooky season.
Find the right young actors to play the leading roles of pubescent Oskar and his slippery new neighbour Eli and the potential shortcomings of any staging pretty much fall by the wayside. Pete
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