Dracula

Dracula: that sinister yet attractive and enigmatic character that has held sway over many a swooning heart for over 100 years. Our modern understanding of Dracula is of course a far cry from Vlad the Impaler or Nosferatu in original concept, and owes much to Bella Lugosi’s sophisticated original interpretation: seductive and frightening in equal measure, quickly followed by Christopher Lee. Gary Oldman became synonymous with the villain in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and more recently a series by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, introducing a new generation to him. It’s important to keep all these things in mind, as all of us coming to the theatre already have an image of what we think Dracula looks like, how he behaves, and the other names in the classic novel will also be imprinted on us: Mina, Jonathan Harker, and of course Van Helsing. All this is actually enormous baggage for any director to unpack and any adaptation of such a classic and gothic novel becomes a monumental beast that needs an exceptionally brave director to take on. 

This production cleverly uses projections and soundscaping as well as multifunctional set becoming various locations throughout, as adaptations from novels have to keep changing locations. The projections are clear and can be seen really well behind the actors so this is a great piece of tech, and it really adds to the whole piece: lovely pictures of the sun setting, rising, and various night-times. Director Cathy Durrant has a particular strength in soundscaping her productions with noises of the asylum in places, dripping water and wailing, as well as underscoring certain scenes and moments within the play with music, giving it a very welcome film like quality. While they all work really well, a couple of the pieces are quite well known: it would work even better to dive into the music choices and choose lesser known pieces which would serve to hold the tension and mood of the piece better, as there may be a tendency for some audience to be taken out of the moment of what they are watching if they are reminded of where the music was previously used. The music choices worked really well when they were classic, the modern choice at the end didn’t flow with the previous choices. The atmosphere with the lighting and the projections and sound, even the announcement, was lovely and so in keeping with the flavour of the play.  

Costumes were another strong point in this production, taking us to the 19th Century, with the Victorian nightdresses, and the cinched shaping of Lucy and Mina in their long skirts and period blouses. The men’s costumes were also well done although the grey suit on Dracula pretending to be Jonathan Harker at the port was quite a modern cut as we only saw it from the back. The long leather coat on Van Helsing was an odd choice, reminiscent of Spike in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. The wigs and styling worked really well and the cast were clearly used to rehearsing with the wigs which was clear by the way they moved with them: a lovely touch. There were some lovely special effects using blood, although there could have been loads more blood especially with the Vixens; the cut across the doctor’s arm was done very well, and the cut Dracula made across his chest for Mina to drink was particularly scary and good. 

Despite a smattering of opening night nerves, the cast were united and worked as a team to tell this complex story and bring it to life. They clearly enjoyed what they were doing and that showed. The majority of the words used in the play are taken from the novel which helps the audience to time travel to that time, but such a very different way of speaking must be tricky for the cast, but they took that challenge on without a single prompt; keeping the audience in the moment and the story, which was lovely. There are some lovely moments in the play: the rubbing of the garlic into the bed frame was done so well, and felt real; Mina being tempted towards Dracula and walking as if hypnotised to the outstretched hand from off was lovely; and Lucy’s second death with bloodied hand jerking out, extending above what they were gruesomely doing out of sight; and the staging of Mina and Van Helsing reading the journal stage right while Dracula and Jonathan act out the flashback stage left, are all examples. The cape unfurling in silhouette however felt like a different genre of Dracula movies rather than the sinister one being created in this story. 

The cast did really well with such a difficult and ever moving piece, with language unfamiliar to them. They used space really well: a testament to the director’s vision. Sadie Ghinn Morris as Mina came into her own in the second act with a power those 19th Century men were not used to their women having. Eloise Gregory was delightful as the sprightly flighty Lucy. Anthony Barden had some good moments as the complicated Renfield: a tricky part to play, and his performance will no doubt deepen with each show. Gareth Brownbill gave a lovely nuanced, detailed performance as Van Helsing: a joy to watch. The conflict between what he knew to be true and what he wanted to be true was palpable: and the way he had to assert himself almost to the point of dominating to get the others to listen, yet still held all the power in the room, was super. Congratulations to Director Cathy Durrant for a lovely vision, and to everyone involved on an enormous challenge which was highly entertaining. 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.