St. Nicholas
by Conor McPherson
Directed by Bradley Rohlf
The Midnight Company
October 2, 2025
Image: The Midnight Company
The Midnight Company’s latest show is a familiar one in a few ways for Artistic Director/star Joe Hanrahan. Not only is it the format the Midnight is most well-known for, it’s also Hanrahan’s forte–the one-man show. Also, the show in question, St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson, is one Hanrahan has performed before on a few separate occasions, although this is my first experience with it. I may have avoided it before because it’s essentially about vampires, which I mentioned before are not among my favorite subjects for stories. Still, seeing Hanahan–under the direction of Bradley Rohlf–acting out McPherson’s quirky but insightful story makes me almost forget I don’t usually love vampire stories. Because this one is more than a simple vampire story. It’s also about theatre critics, about conscience, and about the experience of humanity itself.
As with a lot of one-person shows, and especially the ones Hanrahan chooses to perform, the tone is essentially conversational. A man–here an unnamed Dublin-based theatre critic–is telling his story. He’s up front about the fact that this story involves vampires, but he’s also careful to say that these vampires aren’t like the ones in the movies. Still, although the critic starts out with that announcement, it takes him a while to get to the “vampire” part of the story, at least in the literal sense. What becomes clear, though, as he gets into the first part of the story, is that this is a story about two kinds of “vampires”, it seems, as the critic himself tells about his job and his life, and his pursuit of notoriety at the expense of others, as well as his growing obsession with a young actress named Helen, who he first encounters while attending a show in which she stars. The way he talks about his life, and his regrets regarding his family, and his obsession with Helen and her company, to the point in which he lies about the nature of his review to impress them and eventually follows them to London, makes it clear that the critic himself is, in a way, a vampire, trying to satisfy his “hunger” at the expense of others.
That’s just Act One, however, which ends with the critic finally meeting his first “real” vampire, whose name is William. After first encountering William in a London park, he finds himself drawn to follow him, and to be employed by William and his vampire roommates as a procurer of young people to invite to their house parties, in which the vampires will indulge their own appetites. Meanwhile, the critic gets to know William better, and finds what he defines as the key difference between vampires and humans. He also starts to grow tired of the vampires as he continues his nightly missions to round up party guests, which eventually presents him with a personal dilemma as it inevitably brings his story full-circle, forcing him to come to a reckoning not only with the vampires, but with himself.
Hanrahan is an expert storyteller, and this show plays to his strengths, as it’s a somewhat talky show but never gets boring as Hanrahan keeps it compelling with his characterizations of the critic, and occasional other characters–especially William. Hanrahan’s energy and stage presence lends much drama and interest to this intriguing tale, even though his Irish accent is hit-or-miss, although that’s a minor quibble.
The story itself is well-paced and fits well in the simple space at Greenfinch Theater & Dive. There’s no set to speak of–just a chair that Hanrahan pulls out of the audience at one point, and he’s dressed in a simple suit that fits his character. The mood and suspense are maintained by means of Hanrahan’s characterization coupled with effective sound and lighting design by director Rohlf.
The story is not as spooky as I had been expecting, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. It’s something of a “grounded” vampire tale that never makes it clear if the story is real or a fantasy. What it does do, quite successfully, is present the vampires as an effective contrast to the initially amoral and guilt-ridden theatre critic. The idea of theatre criticism as a form of “power” is also brought up, and that presents a valid source of reflection for critics in the real world who seek to do their jobs with enthusiasm and integrity.
It’s an entertaining show, if not very long, although it provides a lot to think about. With another fine performance from Hanrahan, St. Nicholas also works as a fitting “Halloween” show for the season, although not exactly in the conventional sense. It’s about humanity, and also about theatre, which is always an intriguing subject for critics and non-critics alike. It’s only playing this weekend, and it’s certainly worth checking out.
The Midnight Company is presenting St. Nicholas at the Greenfinch Theater & Dive until October 5, 2025
