Bryony Lavery's Dracula is no ordinary adaptation, bringing Bram Stoker's legendary novel firmly into the 21 st century. Jonathan Harker relays his fears to wife-to-be Mina by email, the Count travels by limousine rather than horse drawn coach, and mobile phones feature prominently. The impressive set is dominated by two giant monitors that constantly display the characters' laptop screens and text messages. This relentless use of technology does however leave the production feeling rather static on occasion. The audience is bombarded by images and text flashing up on the screens, while the characters sit stationary at laptops, waiting for the plot to advance.
It is left to Colin Baker to liven things up, with a vigorous performance as Professor Van Helsing. Boyishly enthusiastic and with a permanent twinkle in his eye, his belated entry brings an energy to proceedings that has been lacking since Dracula left Transylvania for Whitby . Stomping purposefully about the steeply raked stage, he seems to inspire the rest of the cast, leading to a thrilling and action-packed finale.
The script assumes a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the text, so the uninitiated may find it hard to follow. The characters fit well into their modern surroundings, especially the fly-eating psychiatric patient Renfield and Mina Harker (played by Laura Howard of Midsomer Murders ), recast as a strong twenty-first century independent woman.
While never straying too far from vampire conventions, the script knowingly pokes fun at the tale. Even Dracula himself is in on the joke, making self-deprecating remarks about his undead ancestors and explaining that he doesn't have a servant as ‘you can't get the help these days'. The idea that this is all faintly ridiculous, coupled with some tongue-in-cheek performances from the cast, references to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and over-the-top Hammeresque special effects, prevent it from getting too sinister. An attempt is made to darken the atmosphere by portraying vampirism as a computer virus, spreading swiftly and devastatingly through modern society.
Before doom and gloom can prevail however, the production descends into another set-piece romp. The cast are clearly having fun, Richard Bremmer camping it up to the max as Dracula, complete with ludicrous Eastern European accent. The pace really picks up when he takes on Van Helsing et al (‘the goodies' as he disparagingly calls them) at close quarters. These vampire killers are anything but fearless, behaving more like the gang from Scooby Doo as they manage somehow to subdue the Count. As entertaining as the performances are, the crowning moment is a masterpiece of stage effects wizardry, when Dracula is seen (or rather, not seen) to vanish into thin air.
All this action is held together by a schoolboy following the story of Dracula as he sits at his computer. His true purpose though is only revealed right at the end, in a twist ending that will delight aficionados of the horror genre.
