Ottawa Fringe. Bat Brains: is a must-see combination of physical theatre, comedy, and a serious look at mental illness

 

Sam Kruger is a gifted creator and performer. In front of a full house for his first performance at this year’s Fringe, Kruger lived up to the hype set by his incredible show last year, Fool Muun Komming. This year’s Bat Brains or Let’s Explore Mental Illness with Vampires proves once again that Kruger is one of the best and most idiosyncratic physical theatre/solo artists out there. He captures everything that Fringe should be about.

Kruger began the show out of character, talking candidly about his own, as he called it, nervous breakdown he suffered a few years ago. That introduction, which he delivers while getting dressed, sets the premise of the show—a vampire too afraid of his own thoughts, unable to get out of his head or his Victorian mansion. Kruger takes on the affectations of a Nosferatu-like character in black garb, hunchback, sharp fangs and white face paint as he contorts and whirls around the stage in movements that owe as much to mime as dramatic theatre. In fact, Kruger says little for most of the play, instead acting out scenes while a voice-over provides the narrative.

Kruger is hilarious from the start, both in movement and in words. The voice-over provides a steady stream of jokes, but it’s the movements and even the sounds that Kruger makes on-stage that really elevate the show. He is incredibly entertaining to watch. Kruger has a penchant for crafting idiosyncratic characters that are absolutely compelling—usually the craziest characters of any Fringe fest lineup. Scud the vampire, Kruger’s latest creation, is no exception.

It’s obvious from the start, even as early as Kruger’s opening remarks, that this is a show dealing with mental illness. Scud the vampire doesn’t lock himself away to avoid the sunshine, but because he’s tragically incapable of dealing with the real world. Scud spends most of his time in bathrooms—his passion for bathrooms is one of the many hilarious bits in the show—and Kruger manages to make the vampire both very funny and highly sympathetic.

Kruger’s latest show is a comedy for sure, but he’s not afraid of dealing with serious darkness. He combines an incredibly captivating character with superb physical theatre and a theme that’s hard not to sympathize with. The subtitle is right—it is an exploration of mental illness with a vampire impossible not to love. Kruger has created another hit, a definite contestant for the best of the festival.