Spike has left Sunnydale for Edinburgh to fulfil an ancient prophecy and the ‘stakes’ have never been higher!
The ‘stakes’ have never been higher!
When you’re part of a fandom like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there’s nothing more exciting than joining a group of like-minded people to watch someone recap all seven seasons of the iconic ‘90s show in one hour. It might be a very specific dream but it has finally come true!
Brendan Murphy takes his audience through 144 action-packed episodes of vampire-slaying, romantic entanglements, witty quips and teenage angst with more energy than I’ve ever seen on stage. It might be the heatwave, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he’s dripping with sweat at the end of every performance considering the rate of character changes and musical performances he squeezes into those 60 minutes.
Murphy switches between the central characters with a single prop – Buffy and Willow have their own wigs, Cordelia requires a handbag, Angel is represented by an empty leather coat – and gives each person their moment to shine, often with a song, rap or poem recitation. His parody portrayals are fun, but it’s really the show references that get the biggest cheers rather than his original song lyrics or exaggerated accents (although his Giles is fantastic).
Despite a few mic issues (handled admirably) Murphy has the audience on side by the end of the show – particularly after a fast-paced rendition of It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) with lyrics based on all seven seasons of Buffy.
He’s clearly put a lot of imagination, research and humour into this one-man show, not to mention the enormous amount of energy it takes to carry us through such a long-running series in such a short span of time. Some of the creative decisions are more impressive as a concept than in practice, but fans of Buffy are guaranteed a fun evening. Just beware spoilers if you’re in the midst of your first watch-through!
