Shane Nelson and Tiaja Sabrie in The Ringwald Theatre’s production of “Let the Right One In.”

Eli (Tiaja Sabrie), a central figure in The Ringwald Theatre’s latest production, Let the Right One In, explains in one scene that she’s not young, not old, not a boy, not a girl.

“I’m nothing,” she says.

While this may be indeed be true for the character, because Eli’s something akin to a vampire – spoiler alerts about this seem unnecessary, since the preceding 2008 Swedish film of the same name was an acclaimed cult hit – the acknowledgment nonetheless presents a challenge for audiences.

Why? Because although it becomes clear what emotionless, world-worn Eli is after, and you feel baseline sympathy for her existential imprisonment, she ultimately seems an elusive blank in human terms. READ THE REST HERE