Darlington Hippodrome – until Saturday 12 April 2025
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
5*****
Another last minute cover review for me tonight and this time I was watching Blackeyed Theatre’s production of Dracula, an adaptation of the famous Bram Stoker novel for the stage by Nick Lane. The play follows the same plot as the book, starting with the telling of the tale through the letters of Englishman Jonathan Harker, invited to the home of the Transylvanian Count Dracula and then being held prisoner by his host. We follow the tale as Count Dracula leaves Transylvania and ends up on our English shores in the beautiful town of Whitby, where he hatches his plot and corrupts the sanatorium patient Renfield.
The role of Count Dracula is shared between three of the cast at different stages of the show, with David Chafer portraying the vampire in his home in Transylvania, Richard Keightley playing him on his voyage to Great Britain and Harry Rundle playing him in the Whitby scenes. This really enhances the feeling of Count Dracula being a skin changer and lends a feeling of distrust to who anyone really is in the play.
David Chafer was strong as Count Dracula/Abraham Van Helsing, with a humanness to the vampire in the Transylvania scenes really lending itself to the character and as to why Jonathan Harker would trust him. Richard Keightley was brilliant as Count Dracula/Doctor John Seward, with a delicious creepy vibe to his character, and his best moments for me in the show was actually as the unnamed coach driver who takes Mr Harker to the castle in Transylvania. He really set the tone for the show in this small scene and this stuck with me throughout. Bravo! Harry Rundle was also brilliant as Count Dracula/Arthur Holmwood, with a brilliant air of authority around his Count Dracula, you really felt like this was the final boss version and that he had engineered this plan with a masterful intellect.
Pelé Kelland-Beau was great as Jonathan Harker/Quincey Morris, with a brilliant vulnerability to his character when in Transylvania that lent to the feeling of peril he was in. There were at time though a slip in his American accent when playing Quincey Morris that somewhat broke the illusion. Marie Osman was fantastic as Renfield/Lucy Westenra, with a strong presence and a captivating portrayal of Renfield, you really believed that this woman had been corrupted and she portrayed this mental decline so brilliantly. Maya-Nika Bewley was solid as Mina Harker/Doctor Hennessey, coming into her own in the climactic scenes when her character was in grave peril.
The set was absolutely brilliant, simplistic with just some well designed timbers and steps, and a collection of wooden crates to be turned into whatever set piece they were required to be. I loved the way that the timbers created all these subtle doorways and windows that could be used at different points in the plot. The lighting and sound design were both brilliantly eerie, and I swear there were even points when a cold breeze was blown over us in the audience to enhance this unsettling feeling even more.
Overall I could not recommend this production enough. It is a psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Make your way to the Darlington Hippodrome to catch this show at once before it leaves on Saturday 12th March.