Dracula: The Bloody Truth

DRACULA IS ABSOLUTELY FANG-TASTIC AND THAT'S THE BLOODY TRUTH!

Yesterday morning over breakfast I mentioned to my 16 year old son that I was going to the theatre to watch a production about Dracula. His immediate response? “Blah-bl-blah”.

Anyone with children of a certain age, or indeed just children, will recognise this as Count Dracula’s catchphrase from the animated ‘Hotel Transylvania’ series. And for me that sums up why Dracula is so totally iconic. There is no genre or medium to which Bram Stoker’s ultimate anti hero has not been translated, nor a character that feels so culturally ingrained. There are literally hundreds of different interpretations – all totally different and yet all completely recognisable. I grew up with Christopher Lee’s Dracula battling Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing in the Hammer Horror series and, for me, Lee will always be the first place my mind goes when I think of Dracula. Yet there is something about this character unlike any other that allows a versatility, that can work as well in comedy as in all out horror, that is as compelling as a troubled hero as when he is a seductive yet dangerous lover. Whatever the context, we remain fascinated by the very idea of Dracula.

And it was with this fascination in mind that we headed to Bolton’s wonderful Octagon Theatre for this production of Dracula: The Bloody Truth.

The story is relatively faithful to Bram Stoker’s original story – that of Jonathan Harker’s fateful trip to Transylvania where he encounters the vampiric Count Dracula; of Dracula’s subsequent visit to the UK where he seduces first Jonathan’s friend Lucy, and then his wife Mina; and how with the help of the brilliant Van Helsing, Jonathan and Mina finally overcome the Count. I say relatively faithful because this production is narrated by Van Helsing himself, who claims Bram Stoker is a charlatan and that the events of the book are based on fact. He is here – with the help of some plucky actors - to tell us what really happened.

The title ‘Dracula: The Bloody Truth’ tends to suggest that this production has its tongue firmly in its cheek, but I can’t explain how much of an understatement that is. This is pure, unadulterated farce of the highest order. We’re talking slapstick, sets falling apart, impromptu walk-ons by the audience and dodgy accents all delivered with the most perfect sense of comic timing not just by the cast but by the stage crew as well.

Directed by Paul Robinson (Beauty and the Beast, The 39 Steps, Brief Encounter) the entire production is performed by just four actors: Chris Hannon (Coronation Street, The Forsythe Saga, Fool Me Once), who leads as Van Helsing; Annie Kirkman (Beryl, Ladies Day, Beauty and the Beast), who leads as Count Dracula; Alyce Liburd (Waterloo Road, The Great Gatsby, Comedy of Errors) who leads as Mina Harker and Killian Macardle (Boy Meets Girl, Inspector George Gently, Jack and the Beanstalk) who leads as Jonathan Harker. In addition to their main roles, each member of the cast plays at least six additional parts, often playing more than one role on stage at the same time. Indeed I would offer a special shout out to Annie Kirkman who in one memorable scene manages to perform a father and son having a conversation with each other at the same time without breaking a sweat.

Chris Hannon is glorious as the arrogant and yet totally inept Van Helsing. He is definitely having far too much fun with his outrageous and very dodgy Dutch accent that reminded me all too strongly of ‘Allo ‘Allo’s Officer Crabtree. I definitely got the same sense of satisfaction from his greatly exaggerated mispronunciations – especially the repeated ‘Bloody’ (pronounced ‘Blude-y).

Killian Macardle by contrast is excellent as the actor desperately trying to keep the show going against the odds. His scenes with Annie Kirkman’s Count Dracula in particular were excellent, especially in their first scene together as Dracula and Harker. A fault with the stage door which won’t open puts them out of sync and means that Macardle’s Harker is a line ahead of where he should be, answering questions before they have been posed. The slick way that Macardle and Kirkman deal with this scene, creating a sense of fluster and confusion whilst not missing a beat with the script, is just brilliant. I’m also not certain I will ever forget the smile on Macardle’s face as he twerked with the vampire brides to the Pussycat Dolls ‘Don’t Cha’ – definitely an audience favourite moment!

Alyce Liburd was probably my performance of the evening. She flits easily between put upon actor and polished character with a sense of guilelessness that makes her performance all the funnier. She has my favourite line, berating Macardle’s Harker for overacting, before quickly correcting herself to overreacting, receiving one of the biggest laughs of the night.

It would be very wrong not to call out the lighting and sound crew, who added another layer of the ridiculous to the production. Whether it was lights that came on just that bit too late, or sound effects that went on just a little bit too long in order to supposedly catch the actors out, again it demonstrates brilliant comic timing. Stage design and props again were also excellent – whilst there was clearly a lot of thought and design put in to creating a set that can break repeatedly without actually breaking, for me it was using a dining table, picnic basket and tiny rocking horse as a horse and carriage that was the real stroke of genius.

I have always loved attending performances at The Octagon. Its layout makes it is a very intimate environment and that means it is very easy to become immersed in what is happening in front of you. This production really leverages that intimacy, ensuring that the audience is immediately involved, be it with some pantomime cheering and booing, or with more direct audience participation. From a farce perspective, it really heightens that sense of not quite knowing what will happen next – who will get sprayed with fake blood or need to go and stop the stage falling down!

And for me, that is what makes this production of Dracula: The Bloody Truth so much fun. In keeping with the spirit of the whole show, it is fang-tastic! (I had to get a pun in there somewhere). The age recommendation is 12+ and there are some gory scenes which younger children could be upset by – or equally could find them hilarious.  But it has all the hallmarks of that particularly English sense of humour – a combination of irreverence, silliness and eccentricity that had me - and the rest of the audience – laughing out loud. Dracula: The Bloody Truth is a great evening’s entertainment that I can heartily recommend!

WE SCORE DRACULA: THE BLOODY TRUTH...




Watch our video "In Conversation with Killian Macardle and Annie Kirkman" discussing the show.