Buffy Revamped
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
4th September 2024
‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ was a cult phenomenon back in the late 90s, and still regularly places highly on lists of the best television shows of all time. The smash supernatural series was spawned off the back of the not-very-good 1992 film, and went on to completely overshadow it, dominating popular culture during its seven-year airing with its clever dialogue, rich storytelling layered character arcs and message of female empowerment. So much more than it seemed on the surface, the series subverted horror tropes, turning “the helpless blonde girl in the deserted alley” into a powerhouse demon fighter who saved the world (a lot) from the forces of darkness, while also navigating the pressures and dramas of adolescence, which were often told through metaphor and manifested as a wealth of monsters and villains.
The cult fandom love for the show remains strong, even more than 20 years after it ended, as evidenced by the rapturous reception that “Buffy Revamped” is receiving. The one-man show, written and performed by Brendan Murphy, can proudly call itself the best-reviewed comedy show at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe festival, and is the recipient of several awards. Directed by Hamish MacDougall, the show sees Murphy as legendary vampire Spike, who takes the audience through all seven seasons of the series, giving his own unique perspective on all of the key players and plotlines (including the bad ones).
An anarchic and irreverent love-letter to an incredible TV show, “Buffy Revamped” is almost encyclopaedic in the amount of detail it manages to cover, which fans of the series will revel in. From the props on the stage (Buffy’s “Class Protector” award, Cordelia’s “Queen C” number plate, Giles’ “Kiss The Librarian” mug) to memorable lines and instrumental music, the amount of thought Murphy has put into including as much from the Buffyverse as possible into 75 minutes is astonishing. Celebrating the series while also gently ribbing things that never completely made sense, the show rattles along at an incredible pace, rarely allowing Murphy a chance to breathe with rapid-fire dialogue and quick changes. Murphy is clearly a massive fan of the series and knows it well, also having just as much of an awareness for its audience and their common opinions on aspects of the series that didn’t work (Riley was boring, Dawn was annoying). The approach forms a cohesive whole that very much feels like a community, a performer and an audience who both love this material and want to relive it. Murphy regularly breaks the fourth wall to include the audience in his trip down Sunnydale’s Memory Lane, and that interaction and ad-libbing give the show a brilliantly unpredictable energy.
Fitting 100 hours of television into 75 minutes is no mean feat, and Murphy has chosen his edited approach well, covering all of the major plots and characters. Of course not every event is mentioned, and there are a few eras that are perhaps skipped over a bit too quickly, but it’s a minor gripe in the grand scheme of the recap. Murphy also includes various 90s hits from the late 90s to remind us of the time when Buffy hit our screens, most of which work well. There are a few parody songs which don’t always work, often feeling like they’re taking time up that could’ve been better spent referencing a few more of the storylines, but Murphy certainly performs them well. It’s a brilliant overall performance from Murphy, who nails Spike’s volatile “bad boy” energy and swagger and never stops moving, and portrays a multitude of other peripheral characters at breakneck speed.
‘Buffy’s legacy, like Spike, is immortal, and while it may be nearly 30 years old, it told an incredible story, which is brilliantly recapped in “Buffy Revamped” with adoration and a knowing wink. Murphy’s attention to detail is to be commended, along with his performance, and “Buffy Revamped” is absolutely not to be missed by anyone who’s ever considered themselves to be one of “the chosen ones” who loved this phenomenal series.
‘Buffy Revamped’ played at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre on 4th September 2024 as part of its UK tour which continues until the end of this month and into 2025, further tour dates at www.buffyrevamped.co.uk.
Performance runtime 75 minutes without interval.
