Dracula review - South Shields production of blood-sucking Gothic horror is a twisty triumph
“Harrisons' tight direction, lighting and sound cues keeps the action flowing.”
We were promised a twist on the usual adaptations of Bram Stoker's bloodsucking vampire and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s 2025 version of this Victorian classic novel does just that.
The Gothic horror story has had many lives as a novel, in film, TV versions, cartoons, comedies and every other type of genre you can think of, so it's a bit of a challenge to make it different and interesting.
Director Mike Harrison, who directed the venue's recent successful production of Home I'm Darling, has risen (thankfully, not from the dead) to the occasion and this is the best technical production I've seen at the Pier Pavilion since I first frequented the venue in 1992.
The story is framed via the women in Dracula's life: Mina (Rachel Craig) and Lucy (Nicola Richardson).
Told through the eyes of Mina Harker, the narrative is of the eponymous, unseen but omnipresent vampire as he journeys from Transylvania to Whitby and back, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.
Mina narrates from her own diary of events and supplements this with the writings of her husband Jonathan Harker (Michael Caygill) and the diary of a ship's captain, whose stricken crew were murdered by Dracula while sailing to Whitby.
Craig, fitted out in a breathtakingly beautiful Victorian dress, is on stage and narrating almost throughout the whole two hours. The production stands or falls on her performance. I can see this fatally crashing into Whitby harbour walls with a lesser actress. Craig was excellent.
At times the writing needed to be cut or speeded up but a combination of Craig's mysterious presence and Harrisons' tight direction, lighting and sound cues keeps the action flowing. I envisaged at least a hundred lighting cues that added to the Gothic suspense.
David Gibson's sumptuous costumes and the set, the backdrop of which is Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, looked tremendous.
In addition to Craig, Caygill and Richardson, the on-stage presence of Lee McShane (the fly-eating Renfield), Laura Readman (Van Hesling), Tracey Office (Quincey), Liv Meling (Holmwood), Jamie Gallagher (Dr Seward), Ella Jenkins (Elsie), Aaron Martin (Driver) and Catherine Atkinson (Lady in White) all played their roles in a memorable show.
The final twist made me jump. Don't say you haven't been warned!
Dracula runs until Saturday, November 7. Evening shows start at 7.30pm (Saturday matinee, 2pm).
Tickets cost £15 and are available from www.ticketsource.com/westovians/dracula/e-zpjgov
They can also be purchased in person at Sanddancer Clothing, The Word and at the Westovian Theatre Box Office.