Dracula – A Bloody Good Time

“Who is it that sits on my grave and will not let me sleep? “

Song Lyric

Having seen earlier this week at Chichester a purist’s version of Hamlet it is good to see a production of Dracula that sticks to the story telling of Bram Stokers’ 1897 book. This production offers a clever blend of horror and comedy, drawing the audience into a world where laughter and fear coexist—until the latter takes over. The play opens with Mina Harker’s (Umi Myers) narration, setting a reflective tone that soon gives way to a series of unexpected twists and theatrical surprises.

It is a mixture of a horror story lightened by the inclusion of comedy. If you are scared; laugh. However, as it goes on the comedy gives way to more fear and gruesomeness. The director (Emma Baggott) has used the special effects of John Bulleid and Gareth Kaylan well. We can be sitting quietly listening to what’s said when there is an unexplained loud bang, or a sack drops from above that keeps the audience on edge.

A talented and delightfully camp ensemble adapt to visually and wittily enhance each setting. As Harker’s journey begins, people fly trees past and carry place names in Europe as they travel to the Carpathians. The train and a horse driven carriage are improvised using a ship’s wheel and a hotel luggage trolley to get the victim to the eerie castle

The staging is inventive: a single set designed as the inside of a large dark castle transforms fluidly to represent multiple locations, with props repurposed to suit each scene, wheeled in as necessary. The lighting is mostly dark and mysterious with sombre music. Costumes are changed in full view of the audience, adding a layer of theatrical charm. Even the tape player used for sound effects becomes a character in its own right, breaking down mid-performance and prompting a delightfully improvised moment of turning it off and on again.

In addition to Umi Myers there are five other players Lucy (Mel Mac), Jonathan (Jack Myers), Van Helsing (Phoebe Naughton), Elsie (Macy Seelochan) and Renfield (B Terry). All of the cast play different roles throughout and, like any good comedy or thriller, work off each other well. They deliver strong performances; this not only showcases their versatility but also adds to the surreal, horror quality of the narrative.

Sticking to the book we never see the vampire, but we hear his creepy and spine tingling voice. He has ordered large boxes to be filled with local earth, all to be shipped to England. The disease of vampirism has started to spread.

To think this is all a work of fiction, it is not, vampire epidemics were not unheard of, the most famous being the Great Vampire Epidemic in 18th-century Central Europe, where fear of the undead led to mass grave exhumations and heart-stakings.

This is a good original play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, well acted and directed at one hour forty minutes long enough, the mixture of humour giving way to increased horror works well; the audience loved it.