Theater Review: ‘St. Nicholas’ at SFS Theatre

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Vampires or theater critics—which are more repellent? Tough call when they’re bloodsuckers, the lot of ’em—an opinion that Irish playwright Conor McPherson explored to often hilarious and always spellbinding effect in his early-career monologue gem, “St. Nicholas.” Scott Paulin’s superbly-staged 2nd Story Theater revival stars Michael McGee as the play’s unnamed narrator—an acerbic, egomaniacal drama critic (is there any other kind?) who winds up pimping victims for a nest of vamps.

McGee’s perfectly inflected cadences sweep us up in McPherson’s signature combination of Irish gift for gab and intricate, tightly paced narrative form. It’s a refreshing change from the usual solo performance fare of autobiographical confessionals or celebrity portraits. The gripping yarn opens with the character’s midlife realization of the rot at the core of his parasitic existence—glibly stringing words together without real thought or opinion. A desperate infatuation with a beautiful actress leads him from one romantic illusion to another dreamworld inhabited by the benignly mundane vampires who enlist him to entice prey to their non-lethal house parties, where they drink small amounts of their guests’ blood and afterwards erase all memories of the encounter.

Playing fast and loose with vampire mythology, McPherson employs the supernatural to hold a mirror up to human nature. Ironically, the qualities that ultimately arouse the narrator’s revulsion for vampires—their lack of capacity for reflection and conscience—are the very faults that he mistakes for his own virtues. As Oscar Wilde once observed, “Criticism is the sincerest form of autobiography.”

– Philip Brandes

“St. Nicholas,” SFS Theatre, 5636 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays (dark July 4th weekend). Ends July 25. $20. (323) 960-5296 or www.stnicholasplay.com. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.