REVIEW: Dracula

Presented by Triumph Theatre Productions Limited. National Tour: February 1975.

Character: Vivorde Szekels/Count Dracula

The action takes place in the Main hall of Doctor Seward’s Mental Sanatorium near London in 1924.

Act I:

A late winter evening

Act II:

i. Several days later – dusk
ii. The early hours of the following morning
iii. The vault

I remember thinking that Count Dracula must be the modern-day Father Christmas as I walked into the Theatre Royal in York on the evening of February 3rd, 1975. The auditorium was filled mostly with teenagers as I recall, with the occasional adult of carefully cultivated nervous dispositions thrown in for good measure, and we all had a great time watching Peter doing his X-Certificate bit with the powers of darkness.

So why did they used to keep the kids away from Dracula and his pals? None of the old films had so many laughable shocks as this touring revival, and not letting the toffee-suckers in to see this would be akin to barring them from a pantomime.

To say that the play was not really scary would deny the success of a series of brilliantly executed stage effects – rats galloping and bats hurtling about to the accompaniment of delighted screams; chairs moving, books opening, doors slamming, darkness falling – all in a variety of interesting ways. But the biggest scare was reserved for the ghost train… with broad daylight and a toffee apple waiting at the other end.

On the impressive Gothic set prepared by the Billingham Forum Workshops, Peter was the master of ceremonies as the Count himself. He didn’t need to act a great deal, but appear and disappear at will in an amazing series of Victorian conjuring tricks.

His face, itself one of the best Gothic facades in show business, might be thought an asset to the part, yet more emphasis appeared to be placed on his scarlet-lined cloak.

The plot was not what could be described as awe-inspiring, switching between extremes of stage fright and long periods when the cast stood around telling each other what was what, who was who, and indeed, who was dead. Yet the audience – myself included – was content enough to wait, and watch Philip Lowrie as the madman Renfield gibbering his way in and out of his padded cell.

The unfortunate man ate rats and insects, raving behind the curtains, was mysteriously bitten on the neck, appeared drenched in blood, and was dragged out screaming: “Fools! Fools! The whole world is mad!”. A likeable character all the same.

Comic relief, should we have still needed it, was the province of David Killick – and army officer/silly-ass type who never quite got round to mentioning the “guaund piauno” but who asks Dracula: “Don’t you drink, old man?”

Leon Eagles played the exorcist professor – the one character to whom we might have looked for a little coolness and perhaps one of the genuine shudders, but he turned out to be the most melodramatic of the entire cast – the Count included!

Occasionally, the dialogue managed to laugh at itself as in Dracula’s comment about Transylvanian wine not travelling well, but more often than not, it was just background noise between the marvellous effects which were designed by Peter himself. He even spoke his great climatic oration as though it didn’t matter, and it didn’t. His stage-presence itself was simply awe-inspiring.

In Retrospect

When Count Dracula and his blood-thirsty habits descended on York, the result was never disappointing.

The play was more funny than frightening, and for the Seventies at least, a little too far-fetched to scare anyone. However, it was wonderful entertainment, with magnificent special effects, both on and off stage.

As might be expected, Peter made a splendid Count in a full-length scarlet-lined cloak. He trapped a young girl into becoming one of his undead brides with great style, but perhaps because the story is known so well, his actions were a little predictable, although never dull. Another minor criticism was that the production lacked a little in the way of suspense, and the outcome rarely seemed in doubt when the forces of the darkness clashed with those of light.

Apart from Peter himself, Sally-Jane Spencer as Mina Seward – the young girl who falls into Dracula’s clutches, and Leon Eagles as the priest who was called upon to rescue her, were excellent.

Dracula Tour, 1975

Billingham Forum Theatre – 20th January
Wyvern Theatre, Swindon – 27th January
Theatre Royal, York – 3rd February
Bury St Edmunds – 10th February
Theatre Royal, Bath – 17th February
Brighton – 3rd March
Wimbledon – 10th March
Norwich – 17th March
Birmingham – 24th March
Wilmslow – 31st March
Sunderland – 7th March
Wolverhampton – 14th April
Hull – 21st April
Birmingham – 28th April

“Ladies and gentlemen – a word before you go. If when you retire to your beds tonight your curtains move and you see a dark shadow pass your window. An unfamiliar footfall is heard outside your door, and a face looms over you. Don’t be alarmed, it’s only me.”

Spoken by Peter at the end of the play.

Left: The bespoke fangs that Peter wore whilst playing Dracula

Above: A page from the original script with Peter’s notes and revisions

Below: A sketch drawn by Peter to demonstrate how the special effects (using mirrors) in the play would work.

DRACULA

“All that blood-sucking and the exited response of the girl when Dracula kisses her, it’s highly sexual. There’s a fascination for girls in his impeccable manners and mesmeric quality. Men find him irresistible because they can’t stop him. For women, there is their complete abandonment to the power of a man.” Peter Wyngarde

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