Dracula				review by Rutland Dedlock
	Adapted by Bryony Lavery Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh The touring consortium at Cambridge arts theatre 2nd April 2005						Dracula is played by Richard Bremmer who was apparently in such films as 'the thirteenth warrior', 'the sin eater' and (as he who shall not be named) in 'Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone'. His performance I likened to Jon Pertwee impersonating Ron Moody. Some of the comedic lines he's been given grated ('I just can't get the staff'). Praise has been given to the set designed by Ruari Murchison, which is like the inside of an earthquake-hit mausoleum. With two large screens to show the appropriate text or email, four acting levels and a sloping surface, this was adaptable enough to represent Dracula's castle, Carfax, the neighbouring hospital and all the other places. Mention should be made of the illusions overseen by Scott Penrose who has previously supplied tricks to 'Jonathan Creek' and BBC2's excellent 'History of Magic' series. On the whole a good production, which I'd recommend to anyone. I hope this transfers to the west end as it has a possibility of rivalling ' The Woman in Black'
			The programme book lists all the main characters from the novel by Bram Stoker, but I also noticed an Air Stewardess. Taking out seats in the auditorium a tape loop was played of eerie music and Dracula's voice states that he is searching, searching the Internet. This then is a modern re-telling of the classic tale. Whereas in the original book there were diary entries, letters and the then modern phonogram recordings, in this they are texts, faxes and emails. This play is also set in a world where Dracula is a known character; at one point he downplays his nature by claiming it to be a family trait. Don't worry though, this is an entire re-telling, little of the original plot is lost, only speeded up. In another modernisation, when Lucy is haunting Hampstead heath (in chapter 13) and described as the 'Bloofer Lady', in this play she is described - in a TV report - as the 'Buffy Lady'. On the whole, the cast are excellent, though Quincey's modernisation into a computer geek jars slightly.Christopher Cazenove (who I remember older women swooning over in the Edwardian TV series 'Duchess of Duke Street' in the early seventies) is good as van Helsing.