Review: Succubus, The Courtyard Theatre

There is something particularly delicious about when camp transcends irony to a space of genuine emotion – something new, unexpected, and uncontained. Succubus, a campy, hyper-stylised comedy horror at the Courtyard Theatre, is exactly that kind of production: strange, playful and, ultimately, a moving experience for any woman who’s ever been othered.

As a one-woman play, Succubus knows how to stay dynamic, never boring, and always a bloody good time. When one day, a young woman wakes up with a new hunger – for the lustful, the grotesque, and the downright gory – she must begin to navigate a world with no taste for her kind of lifestyle. Georgina Collins as the young woman delivers an exceptional performance, navigating the production’s shifting tones, while grounding its more outlandish moments. Though at times, scope of the story expands further than feels necessary for a tight one-hour show, it’s equally exciting to think of the places the script could go with a well-deserved longer run time.

Collins plays both the lead and Sabine, a woman with a similar appetite, whose relationship with her blurs the boundaries between friendship, romance, and competition. Watching Collins move between the two characters creates the impression of a woman in conversation with another version of herself, with their intimacy and rivalry becoming even more compelling for being embodied by the same performer. Meanwhile, director Grainne Robinson keeps the men remaining as disembodied voices, never quite coming into focus and objectified by their absence. With a whip-smart script, also by Collins, the lack of male presence on stage makes the moments they’re consumed with a wink (and an ironic quip) laugh-out-loud funny.

The stage is set to be something close to the back of a butchers, with plastic draping the walls and pedestals for Collins to both put herself up upon and to fall from as she shifts from scene to scene. In this heightened world where the grotesque and the ridiculous sit comfortably alongside each other, flashing lights and a booming soundtrack suck the audience in to a new way of life. The exaggerated performances and stylised world occasionally create a barrier to emotional connection in the earlier scenes, but those willing to surrender to the show’s particular brand of theatricality will find plenty to reward them. 

Most compellingly, Succubus feels less interested in explaining itself than in letting its strangeness exist on its own terms. Its use of cannibalism is particularly intriguing: rather than functioning as an overt metaphor or signalling a dramatic transformation, it is allowed to remain mysterious. It is simply something that happens, with space for the audience to consider how it sits alongside the realities of women’s experiences of navigating the world, without insisting on a single interpretation. 

There are many moments in my life, big and small, where I’ve left with a new hunger that I wish I could shake, so it’s hard not to root for our lead despite the chaos in her wake. More than worthy of a spooky Halloween run, Succubus gives the theatre a juicy new horror that’s more than worth their evening.

Written by Georgina Collins
Directed by Grainne Robinson
Production Design by Toby Silver, Dan Silver
Graphic Design by Alex Christian
Produced by Halfway Productions

Succubus plays at The Courtyard Theatre until Wednesday 28 October