Dracula is a three-hour long theatrical adaptation (by Liz Lochhead) of Bram Stoker’s classic gothic novel of the same name. It is being performed by the Edinburgh Makars in the Hepburn Suite at the Royal Scots Club.
Jonathan Harker (Craig Gell), an English solicitor, is sent to Transylvania in order to sell a mansion to the mysterious Count Dracula (Sonido Kofi Sewornu), despite protests from his fiancée, Mina Westerman (Phillipa Roy). In the meantime, her sister Lucy Westerman (Bunny Steven) gets engaged to one of Harker’s friends – Arthur Seward (James Cameron) – and her health starts to fail her. Back in London, Renfield (James Grey) resides in Seward’s lunatic asylum and babbles about his master coming to find him.
Sewornu is utterly captivating in their titular role in Dracula, bringing a charm to the character that makes it understandable why Harker was initially so taken by him. They find the balance between embracing the more humorous moments Dracula shares with Harker and the much more sinister side of the character, which shows the range possessed by the performer.
Another standout performer in this production is Grey’s characterisation of the madman Renfield. They give an incredible performance, keeping the audience on edge during their numerous monologues and successfully continuing to build the tension more and more as the production goes on.
Steven’s portrayal of Lucy is fantastic – their initial few scenes have an electric sort of energy which immediately endears the character to the audience. Then as the performance goes on, they excel at showing Lucy’s declining health and embracing the more eerie side of the character. Steven and Roy also share tremendous onstage chemistry, and all the scenes involving the two sisters are highly enjoyable and deeply impactful.
Liz Lochhead’s adaptation of Dracula provides “an interesting retelling of the classic story”. It has a talented cast of performers and is a fascinating dive into the relationships between some of these well-known characters.
