Live on Stage: Dracula (Blackeyed Theatre production)

On 8th November I went to the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, to watch the Blackeyed Theatre production of Dracula. The cast (of 6) took on multiple roles with three of the cast playing Dracula (David Chafer, Richard Keightley and Harry Rundle) himself. A great production, with innovative set design and a great use of song (it was not a musical but vocal performance was used to great effect, with special mention to Maya-Nika Bewley who had a marvellous singing voice), I was most taken by some of the themes coming out through the play, not all coming from Stoker.

The first one to mention was a theme that they termed Bloodline Memory. This was the idea that, once infected with vampirism, the victim was also infected with the memory owned by the vampire’s bloodline – an idea that stuck me as dovetailing with Simon Bacon’s concept of Undead Memory. This manifested within the play through Lucy (Marie Osman) who has visions (memories) of the Turks being staked, for instance. I was also struck with Dracula, when speaking to Harker (Pelé Kelland-Beau), listing (and extolling) atrocities carried out in the name of the British Empire and thus playing with colonisation and, as per the novel, reverse colonisation – though the detail of the events possibly aligned this with Powers of Darkness more than Stoker. The last theme I wanted to mention was that of female emancipation – be that through mention of the suffragettes (and perhaps Arthur’s (Harry Rundle) cynical view of them being another vote cast, rather than a meaningful citizen, which perhaps reflects into contemporary attitudes amongst some political colours) or even the distaste shown by Dr Hennessey (Maya-Nika Bewley) for both how Renfield (Marie Osman) may have come to be incarcerated and Seward’s (Richard Keightley) exploitation of her as a subject to be observed and write a paper on more than helped.

From the last sentence, you can see that Renfield was gender-swapped and this is the third play I’ve seen where this has been done. This further touches into the treatment of women by society (and the medical profession) in the 19th century, of course. I will mention, also, but not spoil the ending, with which the company does something unexpected and brave.