How to Catch a Krampus! – Pleasance Theatre

How to Catch a Krampus! continues at the Pleasance Theatre, London until 23 December 2018.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

A bit like pulling a Christmas cracker and finding an Easter egg inside, this Sink The Pink/Pleasance production is so not what you expect. The schlock Gothic horror publicity more than hints, of course, that this visually impressive, quite ludicrous at times, but highly entertaining alternative to the usual festive offerings is anything but predictable. Leading from the front is writer, designer and director Ginger Johnson, as bold as brass, common as muck, all innuendo and wonderfully overdramatic throughout.

Claiming to be a medium, she’s a con artist whose shadowy life takes a dark turn when her made-up sorcery starts to get results. In touch with her spirits… gin, vodka, vermouth and those from the other side, it’s not long before the myth of the Krampus, a horned eastern European Christmas beast with the head of a goat and long nasty claws, becomes a shocking reality and with a very disturbing turn of events.

Part dark Victorian melodrama, part musical and with finely executed set pieces, it’s very bizarre and unsettling in places, but with a rich vein of original comic ideas running right through.

It works, quite simply, because of the strength of the cast – Lavinia Co-op is deliciously off-the-scale camp while Mairi Houston makes full use of her fine singing voice. Then there’s David Cumming, a veritable tour de force on stage, his terrifically tortured and sexually twisted performance of ‘The Masochism Tango’ (Tom Lehrer) worth the ticket price alone. His own website states he is: “a skilled, multi-role actor with a rubbery face and horse-sized teeth which quite frankly, make for comedy gold.” It’s hard to disagree.

Quite where the idea for a spot of Morris dancing came from is anyone’s guess, but it’s a highlight. “We’re a dying breed, no one will breed with us,” says one member of the troupe, all called Morris, except Co-op who’s character is called Susan – It’s just that kind of show.

Covers include Wham, Tears For Fears, Bob The Builder and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, which sets up Act II wonderfully.

The dark side of the tale involves a missing child and the large revolving stage works perfectly as a device to build the tension, add atmosphere and help send some shivers up the audience’s collective spine.

With such an alternative production, it is inevitable that not all the dramatic devices work and certainly the drawn out ‘little piggy’ knife throwing scene lacks a cutting edge and sucks some of the impetus out of the show at a vital stage.

But, with the baddie sorted out, the evening ends with a classic slapstick routine, drag collective Sink The Pink’s take on the 12 days of Christmas sending everyone home on a high.

A macabre/comedy/musical mish mash it may be, but the show is stylishly executed and a whole heap of weird festive fun.

Derek Smith