Walter Briggs, Jin Park, and Courtney Ricki Green Photo by Justin Barbin

The play opens well with an awkward "meet the parents" dinner. Dom, a bartender and somewhat hapless aspiring historian, has asked Val, his girlfriend of four months, to dinner at his parents' home. At the very last second, Dom informs them that Val is a vampire. Alicia, a police detective, and Louie, a homemaker, are more amused than surprised, although they're clearly in the habit of indulging their only child and play along for a while. But eventually they tire of the vampire schtick as Alicia, in particular, grows concerned that Dom has quickly become too invested in the relationship. This family dynamic has interesting potential, as it seems poised to explore how Gen X parents perceive the partners of their comparatively coddled children.

The scene then shifts to Val's home, where we learn that she lives with her sister/progeny, Rose, who seems to be a member of the Twitch generation. There's both tension and potential harmony in the moment, as Dom is more than familiar with Roses's gamer persona, but it becomes evident that despite Val and Dom's mutual affection, their worlds are incompatible. Circumstances reinforce this, as Roderick, another sibling/progeny of Val, arrives, with a sixth-generation Van Helsing in hot pursuit.

There's plenty of humor and conflict to be had in a vampire-girl-meets-mortal-boy story, particularly with families in the mix, but after a promising start, the play introduces too many threads in pursuit of higher stakes than the premise really warrants: Having chosen to live ethically off medical blood, Val tries to use her hold over Rose to force the younger vampire to do the same; Roderick, it turns out, has been exiled from the family for killing Val's last living descendant; and Alicia has been charged with solving the murders that Roderick and, later, Rose have been committing all over the city.

But none of these dots really connect in a meaningful way. The climactic battle with Lance (Van Helsing) and its aftermath don't feel earned. Particularly during its much weaker second act, it seems clear that it might have been possible to tighten it up into a fifty-minute Fringe show that made good on the the promise of blending romantic comedy and horror, but the premise overstays its welcome at a two-hour runtime.

The production does its best to compensate for the uneven script. Alyssa Mohn's set suggests the Chicago skyline with two neon-outlined banks of buildings set on a tilt. The main stage thrusts out at a slightly disorienting angle from a gloomy, two-story structure with gothic vibes. Mohn shifts the setting from the home of Alicia and Louie to Val and Rose's upscale digs by changing the level of a countertop and a funny gag that has two coffins rise up from the floor.

Jason Lynch's lighting helps to move the action from these interiors to Chicago's dark streets. Lynch also occasionally pulses the neon outlining the cityscape from blue to red to signify the tension between the mortal and vampire worlds. Andre Pleuss's sound design, particularly the interstitial music, does good work to keep the play moving. Finally, Theresa Ham's costumes lean into archetypes, lending the characters more depth than the show itself affords them. Val's clothes are sophisticated and timeless, whereas Rose's look conveys that she is trapped in a teenage state. The vibe for Dom is nerdy, but stylish enough that it seems believable he'd have caught Val's eye, and the outlandish Van Helsing get-up seems to understand the show's mission statement better than the play itself does at times.

The performances are good as well, led by Courtney Rikki Green as Val and Cynthia Kaye McWilliams as Alicia. Green is confident and self-possessed at the start of the play. It's clear not only why Dom would be smitten, but why Alicia and Louie might be inclined to roll with what they perceive as the strange fiction of her being a vampire. There's an interesting idea beneath the surface about a woman who has the luxury of limitless time and resources figuring out what fulfillment looks like, and certainly Green's charisma does much to bring this out of the text. She also gives it her all as far as the strained relationships with Rose and Roderick go, but the material here is weaker.

McWilliams also elevates the role of Alicia beyond what could easily become nothing but a series of tropes. She and Kareem Bandealy (Louie) generate appealingly embarrassing affection and chemistry. In so far as limited material is interested in her role as a police detective, McWilliams leans just enough into crime procedural stereotypes without losing Alicia's individual spark. Bandealy also plays Lance Van Helsing, and he and McWilliams hit all the right notes in the comedic banter between the two.

There's not a great deal to the character of Dom, but Jordan Anthony Arredondo does good work playing the straight man. In the few moments where he and Val have serious discussions about mortality and immortality, it's clear that he's capable of more than the play gives him to do.

As the roguish Roderick, Walter Briggs has very good comedic instincts. He and Jin Park (Rose) generate a fun vibe, but the play simply doesn't give us enough information about the history of this dysfunctional little family for Roderick's success in tempting Rose back into hunting to have real stakes. Similarly, Rose's primary conflict, the fact that she is non-negotiably bound to Val unless she is released, is introduced late and gets little air time, though Park's potential does come through in the moments when we learn that she bears many of the burdens that come with Val's quest for self-actualization.

Untitled Vampire Play runs through July 12, 2026, at Lookingglass Theatre, Water Tower Water Works, 163 E Pearson St at Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit lookingglasstheatre.org or call 312-337-0665.