Vampires with a heart

Fangless vampires yearning for love are the protagonists of a darkly comic new play by local playwright and producer Adrian Buckle.
Inspired by Agnes Moon’s novel of the same name, The Acrobat (Blood Ties) is directed by Stephen Oliver and stars an international cast, with some actors having purposely travelled  from the US and Germany.
Mr Buckle – who has written a number of plays and is a prolific producer – started adapting the play with Ms Moon and then brought Mr Oliver on board. Their vision was to create a story aligned with the popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer genre, with a selection of very different characters, all tortured by their past but deserving of love.
“Moon develops her characters beautifully,” Mr Buckle said. “They are very well-rounded and shaded with light and darkness. Our intention was to make them as real as possible – so the vampires won’t be wearing fangs! They are very relatable, although they have a sense of the ‘ancient’ to them. They are a metaphor to the fact that everyone, no matter how different, deserves love if they can open up to their feelings.”

Bringing a new piece to the stage is no easy feat. The play, which is opening tonight at Spazju...