The Northern Ballet's Dracula
and
Day Trip to Canterbury
by Alyson Brewer and Rob O'Connell. Sat 7th June.
Our day started at 10.30am when we met the majority of the group from the train at Canterbury East. From there we headed into town. I was nominated Tour Guide as I had been in college here two years ago and allegedly knew the best places to go. After getting our theatre tickets, the first stop was the weekly antiques market at the Sidney Cooper Centre. They didn't know what had hit them when we arrived! Although Rob and I didn't buy anything, we were in the minority and we spent some time there rummaging through the various stalls. From here we broke off into smaller groups to go sightseeing, more shopping or to a pub. Rob and I made ourselves ill over the largest, gooiest ice-cream sundae imaginable!
At 2pm we all met up at the Marlowe Theatre for the matinee performance of The Northern Ballet's production of Dracula. The tickets were quite expensive so our seats were all in the back row, although the theatre had good sightlines wherever you sat. This performance was only three quarters full, so some of the group moved to sit closer to the front.
The ballet itself was in three acts and was of course based on the story we should all be familiar with by now! It was a very professional and polished performance. The sets and use of lighting was stunning and ingenious, and the costumes wonderful - particularly Dracula's long red robe. Some of us found Dracula himself somewhat attractive and the interpretation of his character was very sensual.
Dispite the brilliance of the show, the two intervals were very welcome as the theatre was unbelievably hot. The ballet's ending deviated from the original story, but was very dramatic and spectacular. This scene had an eerie Gothic atmosphere; when featuring Dracula surrounded by his followers slaughtering Renfield as if in a ritual in honour of Mina, before the interruption of Van Helsing and Harker to save the day. At the end of the show, we were able to go back stage to take photo's of us with Dracula.
After sitting in a theatre for three hours, we were in dire need of refreshment, so most of the group trusted my judgement and followed me to the pub, via more shops! Three hours and several drinks later it became apparent that we needed food to soak up the alcohol if we were to make it back to London that night. The next challenge was to find somewhere willing to take in thirteen slightly inebriated, noisy vampyres.
Marlowe's on the high street welcomed us with open arms and gave us the upstairs room virtually to ourselves. Some time was spent winding up the waiter and giving him a hard time as he was new to the job: although this had to be cut short on realising we had less than an hour until the last train to London. When the food came it was very good and enjoyed by most.
We then had to race back to Canterbury East Station for the 10.30pm train, only to discover that we'd been given the wrong information: a train had left at 10.20pm and the last one was an hours time. Despite one or two hiccups, I think everyone enjoyed their day and for Rob and I, it was a great fun day to end our week's holiday in Kent.
