Theatre Review: Dracula: The Untold Story at The Leeds Playhouse
Getting us in the mood for Halloween, The Courtyard Theatre showcases a startling sequel to Dracula’s story says Leo Owen
The Leeds Playhouse and imitating the dog co-produce Dracula: The Untold Story, plunging us straight into a grisly murder investigation one New Year’s Eve. Opening with news soundbites from 1965, including a celebration of the anniversary of Dracula’s defeat, writers and Artistic Directors, Andrew Quick and Peter Brooks choose to delve into Mina Harker’s life post Bram Stoker’s novel.
Recognising Mina’s central role as unofficial storyteller in the original gothic classic, Quick and Brooks question her reliability as narrator and explore a potential alternative realty. Untold Story creatively fills in the gaps too, imagining what’s transpired in Mina’s life in the years following her encounter with the titular vamp.
As fans of imitating the dog might expect, the show is heavy on breath-taking visual effects with their trademark use of mixed media, including cameras for live filming, green screens and thrilling video projections. Unlike their previous show, Night of the Living Dead Remix, Dracula completely avoids sensory overload and visually is pitch-perfect, presenting the narrative as a graphic novel, reminiscent in style to Sin City.
Quick and Brooks’ cast of three are faultless, effortlessly switching between roles and languages, never missing their mark. Bradford based Riana Duce joins imitating the dog for the first time, playing their lead, Mina. She fluidly speaks a whole host of languages, seamlessly jumping between flashbacks and the police interrogation room that frames Mina’s story. Company regulars Adela Rajnović and Matt Prendergast expertly flit between parts, at times adding a touch of humour to an otherwise dark moralistic tale.
Simon Wainwright’s slick design is exquisite and employs some exceedingly clever visual trickery with images superimposed, a graphic filter used for projections of real-time filming and speech bubbles for subtitles as the story pinballs across Europe. In a nod to Nosferatu, shadowy silhouettes of cast members represent the dark man himself but perhaps Wainwright’s greatest achievement is the use of minimal props to create mind-bending effects live on stage.
Quick and Brooks’ dialogue is beautifully written, almost poetic at times in the first half, but loses momentum towards its end, perhaps requiring some editing and reworking, especially in its final moments.
Minor faults aside, Dracula: The Untold Story is undoubtedly gripping. A global crime thriller from an innovative company who are true masters of multimedia, this is highly stylised theatre not to be missed.
Dracula: The Untold Story premieres in The Courtyard Theatre from September 25th – October 9th before embarking on a UK tour:
https://www.imitatingthedog.co.uk/dracula/
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