Bram Stoker’s timeless classic, Dracula, is brought to the Glasgow Pavilion for two nights by Blackeyed Theatre, but the six-person cast may get you lost in the story for the wrong reasons.
Undoubtedly a talented cast, David Chafer, Richard Keightley, Pele Kelland-Beau, Maya-Nika Bewley, Marie Osman and Harry Rundle take on two roles each to deliver the gothic thriller.
With one set, a series of wooden beams and stairs, for the entire duration of the play, a lot is left up to the imagination.
The actors never leave the stage either, instead a rail sits behind the set with changes of clothes for the characters, whether this is meant to be seen by the audience or not, I am still unsure.
Combining all of these factors means you have to have a pretty sound knowledge of the events in the book to match them to the scenes in the play.
The narrative of the events is relayed by the characters on stage, adding just one more thing to keep up with.
There is no dispute the play is very visually aesthetically pleasing, the actors are incredible at playing their roles, however I fear the switch between them could easily get muddled, especially as the actors never left your sight, which might’ve been a better indication that they were switching to a different character if they disappeared for even a minute.
I can’t quite put my finger on what was missing from this production. It is totally different from anything I have ever seen.
The unique selling point of it is that there is only six people in the cast, they perform on one set for the entirety of the story, and they never leave the stage.
It is very cleverly done, however I don’t think the style worked for the story that was trying to be told.
Dracula is already complex, with many different timelines in one story, it is hard to make it known on stage that you are changing timelines, without changing characters and backdrops.
Ultimately, the concept was brilliant and the actors were very good, however I think it was lost on Dracula, or perhaps I need to refresh my knowledge of the story so I can follow along better.
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