REVIEW: Dracula - Stepping Stones Community Hall, Bolton.

The prospect of watching an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ was one which I had been looking forward to for a couple of weeks, but I must confess that I was unsure of the tone which the play would take. Stoker’s 1897 gothic horror is wound tight with sexual repression and Victorian stoicism, yet the playwright John Godber (along with writing partner Jane Thornton) is best known for pacey and dynamic comedies, which wryly observe people’s foibles and exaggerate them for broad laughs. I am pleased to report that the production on offer tonight was a faithful and serious adaptation of the original novel. However, in Godber and Thornton’s reverence for the original text, the writers have set some serious limitations for any performer or director.

Arriving at Stepping Stones is a strange experience for a theatre-goer, as one has to enter through a children’s playground into a foyer stacked with children’s wellies and laminated names above coat hangers. As I entered into this environment of a bygone day of my own parenting experience, muscle memory kicked in and I nearly signed my 13 yr old daughter in and headed back off to work. I am glad that I stayed. The performance space was laid out in a thrust stage with a table and four chairs furnishing it, whilst an old-fashioned proscenium at the rear housed what was all too ominously a coffin. The space presented limitations for the Marco players, particularly in the lighting rig, but their quality overcame these and perhaps it was the lack of excesses in staging or effects that allowed the performers to shine.

As the production began it was apparent where the writing poses problems for the director. In their effort to be truly faithful, Godber and Thornton have stuck to the novel’s technique of presenting the story through a series of diary entries, medical records and correspondence between characters. This meant that there was an excess of exposition in the dialogue and performers were often forced to tell the story, rather than act it. This is a shame, because the lead actors of the first act (which is almost a two-hander) demonstrated real poise and charisma. Count Dracula, played by Matt Rigby was a compelling presence. Despite Stoker’s novel presenting us with the original incarnation of the vampire count, it is FW Murnau’s 1922 film adaptation (nay rip-off!) ‘Nosferatu’ that first gave us the visual conventions of the monster and Rigby’s performance was a brilliant nod to Max Shreck’s (the original actor to play Nosferatu) portrayal, with his rigid arms and fingers held in a claw-like curve to represent a predatory, otherworldly figure, tinged with a hint of rigor mortis. Rigby commanded the stage, but was aided thoughtfully by James Haslam who, in his everyman, meek and almost slouching performance of Jonathan Harker was a superb mirror image of his foe. If the play is evoking the themes of repressed sexuality and masculinity, the shrinking Jonathan who fumbles and hesitates is the perfect counterpart to the assertive, direct and (ahem) erect Dracula. Haslam and Rigby really understood and inhabited their roles, which is a testimony to director Martin Pearce who drew excellent performances from his leads, most notably from Scott Jones, whose portrayal of Renfield, the incarcerated madman eagerly awaiting the coming of Dracula, injected the play with energy and crazed menace.

Rhiann Millington and Zoe Molyneux are also performers worthy of mention, as both had to contend with pretty thankless roles as late-Victorian women, repressed by men, language and even costume, but both actors shone as their sexuality was unlocked by the presence of the count. As Mina, Rhiann Millington really thrived in the second half as the pace and tension grew. The Marco Players are a talented bunch, but considering that this is a play about vampires, it felt somewhat restrained and that some of the actors had more to offer than they were given to do.

The direction and staging of this play was effective throughout, with some well-chosen costume design (led by Carolyn Haslam, Janice Lyon and Sheila Hogg) which evoked the era, the gothic sensibilities and the themes of repression very well. The lighting was simple and perhaps limited by the venue’s facilities, but Paul Roberts’s lighting design achieved some very creditable effects; Firstly there was an excellent technique to create a feverish menace as Dracula approached his victims, with the lights pulsing brighter, accompanied by a loud breathing effect created by the ensemble, who vocalised a number of soundscapes throughout the performance to varying degrees of effectiveness. Secondly, Roberts’s stark lighting on the proscenium cast strong shadows on the backdrop, evoking the expressionistic imagery of Murnau’s original rendering of the Dracula iconography. It was simple, but it was accurately portraying the central conflict between the forces of darkness and the forces of light.

Overall this was a really enjoyable production. I am pleased that my younger companion saw such a faithful adaptation of a classic piece of literature performed coherently and with consistent quality throughout the cast. It does limp slowly towards the interval, but the second act is pacier and performed with much more energy, partly because the letters and diaries are more readily abandoned for in-the-present action. Whilst wanting more from the blocking, physicality and visual aesthetic of the play, I was hooked by strong performances and the storytelling skill of The Marco Players.

Reviewer - Ben Hassouna-Smith
on - 28/2/19