Photo courtesy of Tim Nguyen | Citrus Photography
While the term “tour de force” is overused it can be applied honestly in the case of Simon Slater and his performance in Vertigo Theatre’s current offering Bloodshot the first one-person show Vertigo has staged in its long history. In another first for the company the entire production has been imported from London’s West End.
Slater plays a jaded police photographer whose early career shooting the casualties of the London blitzkrieg during the Second World War drives him to drink.
Fast forward to 1957 when the photographer gets a strange assignment — delivered via a letter mysteriously dropped through the mail slot on his door — to follow and photograph a beautiful young immigrant from the West Indies. Murder mayhem and mystery ensue.
One of my favourite aspects of the production is its fabulous staging — from the appropriately muted lighting to the captivating period photos projected on a large screen upstage. I sat back and let the era wash over me.
For the most part Douglas Post’s script is riveting with several twists and turns. Particularly refreshing for a mystery / thriller script is the fact it also hints at the sociopolitical attitudes of postwar England particularly concerning London’s immigrant population from the West Indies. This inclusion makes the story deeper and more compelling and lends a more authentic sense of period to the show.
As is often the case with a one-person play the ultimate success of the production rests with the actor. In Bloodshot Slater’s committed performance is ultimately what keeps audience members in their seats for two-plus hours. (Unlike many one-person shows this is not a one-act play.)
Not only does Slater portray a faded tired out-of-shape alcohol-ravaged middle-aged photographer — who gets embroiled in something well over his head — but he also takes delightful turns as an Irish standup comedian an American saxophonist and a Russian nightclub owner and magician. His transformation to these other characters is seamless and adds some needed humour and variety to a show that otherwise may come off heavy.
And as is so important with shows of the mystery and thriller genres the ending doesn’t disappoint.
While Bloodshot runs a tad long for the story it tells I still categorize this show a must-see not only for the story but for its staging Slater’s performance and the theatrical experience it provides.
