AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: Dracula - The Bridewell Theatre, London.

Today I had the pleasure of watching Theatre In The Square's 'Dracula' performed in a lovely small theatre near Blackfriars. I’ve been past the Bridewell Theatre on a walking tour of London’s dark history but never been inside. The perfect place to watch a gothic play. It’s quite a small theatre with no ticketed seating. The staff were very welcoming and friendly with a small secluded bar in the basement. One of the theatre staff advised me to sit near the back but that the very back row has partly restricted seating. I was already nervous as I could see the red velvet bed and the dark setting on the stage. It seemed that a lot of the audience knew each other and on over hearing I found out that many friends and relatives were there to support the cast. This theatre is situated right in the heart of London’s bustling financial area so there were a few city types here.

It is strange to imagine seeing Dracula in the Christmas pantomime season. But as Dracula is one of my favourite books I was looking forward to a mesmerising experience. I could see scaffolding on the stage and realised that it was going to be used to represent different levels and different scenes. Although the stage has quite basic scenery it managed to create an atmospheric environment.

The play based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written and directed by Rosie Fiore-Burt, the production manager Moira Wallace and a cast of 19 actors.

I was gripped from the beginning to the end. Dracula, played by Pete Franklyn was one of the scariest actors to take on this role. I certainly wouldn’t want to bump into him around those dark alleys of London where the Ripper hung out and where the theatre is situated! The amazing cast of 19 took on 63 characters, more than 100 costumes which at times became a little confusing but I managed to follow what was going on. There was a lot of exit stage left as the next scene entered from stage right. The quick turnaround of props being moved on and off the stage was very regimented and I believe it must have been quite a logistic nightmare for the crew. There were many scenes on different levels of the scaffolding, sometimes taking place simultaneously. It was fast paced and relentless. I jumped out of my seat a couple of times when Dracula appeared quite unexpectedly.It was a relatively true adaptation to the book but then it’s hard to portray that much of a story in three hours.

The play used puppets and props which had all been handmade specifically for the play and the music was performed live without any recorded sound effects. The cast were involved in vocally making eerie animal, creature and vampire sounds.

The theatre company performed a well acted and frightening piece of historic drama. It draws the audience in. However, at times it was a little difficult to hear all the dialogue clearly. I would definitely see it again and advise anyone else interested in good old-fashioned horror to go and see it. There’s plenty of Victorian blood and Dracula’s make up was creepy. They also included Victorian blood transfusion kits, which being squeamish I tried not to imagine. The smoke rising created a very eerie atmosphere and it would always herald the arrival of vampires or Dracula himself.

One downside of the evening was that the seats are not very comfortable for a three hour show. They are of the fold-up variety that you have in meetings. So the interval was a welcome relief to actually stand up, move about and stretch my legs.

Reviewer - Penny Curran 
on - 11/12/19