“Let the Right One In” Offers a Nuanced Take on the Vampire Narrative

The real challenges of staging “Let the Right One In” as a compelling piece of theatre  have little to do with the blood-thirsty monster at the center of its narrative.

Jack Thorne’s stage adaptation of the 2008 Swedish film of the same name features a vampire as a central character. Eli looks like a typical teenager, but she depends on human blood for survival, just like all of pop culture’s most celebrated bloodsuckers. The film, directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, revolves in part around the same vampire mythos and mystique that have made the monster such an enduring figure in the global popular imagination.

But according to Heather Kelley, the director of the CU Department of Theatre’s upcoming production of “Let the Right One In,” the vampire element isn’t what drives the piece’s primary pathos.

“I don’t think of it as a ‘vampire play,’” Kelley says, pointing instead to the relationship between Eli and Oskar, a lonely, bullied teenage boy living an isolated life in the Swedish suburbs. “To me, above all, it’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a love story between these two characters; it asks questions about whether love can truly be unconditional.”

That’s not to say the vampire component isn’t important. Indeed, it’s part of what made the film a valid cult classic; it’s part of what drove the push to make an American film adaptation and, ultimately, a stage version.

“That’s not to sell the vampire aspect short, but to me, it’s not the most important part of the story,” Kelley explains. “In my mind, what could be really satisfying for the audience would be to come in and be immersed in the world of these teenagers.”

That central dynamic is what drew Kelley to the film, and then to the original novel. It’s what made her so excited to see the National Theatre of Scotland’s version of the stage adaptation in New York, and what ultimately spurred her to submit the show as a pitch to CU Boulder’s theatre department as a possible work to produce.

“Last year, I was in my final year in CU Boulder’s PhD program in theatre and performance studies,” she says. “I proposed it, saying I’d love to direct it … but added that I’d already be graduated.”

Kelley graduated in May, and has since moved on to a teaching position at another university. That didn’t stop CU Boulder from accepting her suggestion and bringing her back to direct. It was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up, and a challenge she’s eager to meet.

Kelley and the crew will work to bring the spirit of the source material to life, a task that is far from simple. Namely, recreating some of the film’s most iconic moments (a scene in a swimming pool at the end of the film figures among the most daunting tasks) in a satisfying way is a priority for Kelley, and she’ll be assisted by sound designer Lauren Haas, scenic designer Hayley Delich, costume designer Sara David and props designer Peyton Burns, all current CU students. Staff member Monica Bowker will serve as the show’s lighting designer. The stage manager is Brosnan Bustamante, the assistant stage manager is Emily Littlefield and the stage manager swing is Algernon Schneider. Graduate student Allison Wilson is the dramaturg.

“I’m interested in playing with theatre techniques in a dynamic, startling way,” Kelley explains. “I want to take the audience’s breath away. How can our designers help to bring the spirit of this story to life on stage?”

Their approach will go beyond fangs, capes and Transylvanian accents, and instead seek to create a much more nuanced approach to a story that happens to feature a vampire as a central character.

CU Theatre presents “Let the Right One In” in the Loft Theatre Oct. 11 through 20, 2024.