As part of its 70th anniversary celebrations, National Youth Theatre has framed this REP season around the tantalising idea of living forever. Following earlier outings such as Dracula, it now turns to Let the Right One In, a story that layers immortality with loneliness, desire and moral compromise. Jack Thorne’s stage adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel proves a smart and resonant choice for a company made up of performers on the cusp of adulthood.
First staged in Scotland over a decade ago, Thorne’s play draws more heavily on the later film adaptation than the novel, shaping the material into a taut, theatrical experience. While the supernatural elements remain potent, this revival leans firmly into the coming-of-age narrative at its centre. Directed by James Dacre, the production resists sensationalism in favour of emotional clarity, allowing character rather than concept to drive the action.
Set on a bleak housing estate in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, the story follows Oskar, a bullied teenage boy whose inner life is increasingly darkened by rage and obsession. His tentative friendship with Eli, the strange new girl next door, unfolds against the backdrop of a series of brutal killings that unsettle the community. The audience may quickly intuit that Eli is not all she seems, but the production is far more interested in what she offers Oskar: connection, protection and an alarming sense of permission.
The staging is impressively assured. In the intimate confines of Underbelly Boulevard Soho, the violence feels uncomfortably close, and the moments of attack are genuinely shocking without tipping into excess. Special effects are used with precision, heightening the production’s impact while never distracting from the narrative. Dacre’s direction is confident and controlled, keeping the story gripping and pacey while allowing quieter scenes the space they need to land.
The NYT REP ensemble is uniformly strong, working together with discipline and trust. There is a clear sense of cohesion, with the group shifting seamlessly between functions as narrators, bystanders and aggressors. Individually, performances are finely judged, but it is the collective standard that stands out most strongly.
At the centre of the production, Nicky Dune delivers a compelling performance as Oskar. His portrayal captures the character’s vulnerability and volatility, making him someone the audience instinctively roots for even as his moral compass begins to falter. As Eli, Rachael Dowsett gives a detailed, powerful performance, balancing otherworldly stillness with flashes of profound emotional pain. Her control ensures that empathy is never lost, even as the character’s true nature becomes clear.
Supporting the performances, the lighting and sound design do much of the atmospheric heavy lifting. Lighting is used with great precision, shifting from cold, wintry washes that suggest the isolation of suburban Blackeberg to harsher, heightened states that accompany moments of violence.
The overall design is spare but purposeful, avoiding clutter in favour of swift transitions and striking, well-judged effects. Blood and stage violence are deployed boldly yet never gratuitously, while a low, ominous soundscape hums beneath the drama, sustaining a constant undercurrent of unease. Together, the technical elements support the storytelling with confidence and restraint, reinforcing the production’s emotional weight while maintaining impressive control.
Thoughtful, unsettling and executed with a high degree of craft, Let the Right One In demonstrates once again why National Youth Theatre remains a vital pipeline for the next generation of performers. This is youth theatre operating at a genuinely professional level, tackling complex, unsettling material with confidence, restraint and emotional intelligence.
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