Harriet Joyce attends Blackeyed Theatre’s production of Dracula at artsdepot

Promotional image for Dracula at artsdepot

Blackeyed Theatre Company returned to artsdepot in November, as the theatre group staged their adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Directed by Nick Lane, this gothic theatrical experience transported the audience back to 1897 and on a quest spanning London, provincial England and Transylvania.

The play begins with choral speaking from an ensemble, discussing the rules of vampires, while a sinister and mystical composition, designed by Tristan Parkes, plays. Smoke eerily infiltrated into the audience which, accompanied with cool sterile white lighting, helped set the gothic and chilling feel of Transylvania.

The contrast between both the supernatural blue and warm yellow hues not only helped distinguish between the locations of the parallel stories but also helped express the eery juxtaposition between life in Transylvania and London.

The use of the harsh white lighting also expressed Lucy Westenra’s desperation, it felt as if actress Marie Osman’s glistening tears were being spot lit in order to show just how much she had become a lab rat even towards the people she loved.

The set, designed by Victoria Spearing, showcased wooden crates, blocks of grey stone, green vines and a singular thorny red rose winding around the wooden scaffolding. The white sheer curtain that draped along the scaffolding also created an obscure juxtaposition between exterior and interior props, which helped set scenes with minimal changes. Intricate details of the set, such as the ropes from the boat and the reins on the horse carriage were achieved through mime.

The use of mime continued throughout the play into the cunning, supernatural performance of David Chafer, contrasting with the believably pained expressions of Marie Osman, playing Lucy Westenra. Furthermore, the difference in levels between the two showed the control and superiority Dracula, and vampires in general, have over humanity.

Maya-Nika Bewley, portraying Mina Harker and Dr Hennessy and Pelé Kelland-Beau, portraying Jonathan Harker and Quincey Morris, both used accents as a technique to help distinguish between the parallel stories of the characters they were portraying. The use of accent anchored with the use of split staging also helped audiences establish changes in setting to therefore engage in the flashbacks of the characters.

Naomi Gibbs’ costume design also helped seamlessly differentiate between location and setting, for example the female characters wore white dresses which were tucked into camel-coloured skirts, allowing for easy quick changes as they can appear as either blouses or dresses.

The warm tone of the camel skirts contrasted against the grey suits of the male characters, perhaps to suggest that the women would be living in a safer world without the threat of vampires if the male characters and academics hadn’t stepped into Dracula’s territory and ended up treating Lucy Westenra like an experiment in the process.

Lucy’s white dress compared to Abraham Van Helsing’s brown blazer shows that, while he was left unscathed by his research into the supernatural for the sake of helping to save humanity, Lucy has had no choice but to surrender to Dracula. Dr Hennessey’s character insists she is not a vampire but acting in strange ways due to being unnecessarily thrown into a mental asylum much like many women during the 1800s, meaning Dr Hennessy’s character works to voice the feminist themes of Dracula’s classic story.

To find out more about artsdepot go to: https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/whats-on/

To find out more about Blackeyed Theatre visit: https://blackeyedtheatre.co.uk/

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