American Psycho, Almeida Theatre - theatre review

In this musical version of Bret Easton Ellis’s gruesome cult novel, Matt Smith serves up an intriguing blend of nihilism, cold vanity and twisted charm
Alastair Muir
22 February 2014

A musical version of Bret Easton Ellis’s gruesome cult novel American Psycho sounds like the punchline of a sick joke. But this skilful interpretation is built around a superb performance by Matt Smith, who serves up an intriguing blend of nihilism, cold vanity and twisted charm.

His character, Patrick Bateman, is a tanned banker working in mergers and acquisitions (or "murders and executions", as he calls it). He’s the embodiment of rampant materialism – a true Eighties type, albeit one who still moves among us. He also happens to be a serial killer, as adept with a cleaver as he is with a spreadsheet, though nobody takes any notice even when he confesses his crimes.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has preserved the spirit of the novel – the obsession with business cards, designer labels and the difficulty of getting a table at the best restaurants – while cutting some of its more mind-bendingly unpleasant scenes. The result is absorbing and psychologically plausible, as Smith switches between Bateman’s glitzy, tedious social life and moments of lurid hallucination.

The score is a mixture of Eighties anthems (Huey Lewis and the News, Genesis, New Order) and original songs. For the latter, composer Duncan Sheik’s idiom is thumping pop, all synth and percussion, and his lyrics exult in their own absurdity – you don’t often hear "crème de menthe" made to rhyme with "Oscar de la Renta".

Rupert Goold’s staging is charismatic. Es Devlin’s sets and Katrina Lindsay’s costumes evoke the lifeless modishness of Eighties chic. And Smith is well supported: Ben Aldridge delights in the suaveness of Bateman’s rival Paul Owen, Cassandra Compton conveys the vulnerable appeal of his secretary Jean, and Susannah Fielding impresses as his vacuous girlfriend Evelyn.

At one point Bateman concedes that his story is "overwrought and gory". Although American Psycho is certainly bloody, where it needs to feel dangerous it sometimes seems a little too slick. Yet much of it is brilliant, and I would be surprised if this stylish shocker doesn’t swiftly find its way into the West End.

Until February 1 (020 7359 4404, almeida.co.uk)

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