26 – 27 May
On board the sailing ship Demeter, a large crate in the hold is bringing the narcoleptic body of a certain Count to the docks at Whitby. Strange and unexplained disappearances of crew members and peculiar behaviour amongst the officers excites the superstition of the remaining crew, urged on by the cook (Lewis Cook, who with great fortitude manages not to say ‘aargh’ at the end of each sentence). The cook soon puts the strange goings-on down to the presence on board of a woman, Lady Lilith Whitman (Amy Smith) who had been secreted aboard by the captain (Ciaran Corsar). The cook’s remedy, outlined with relish, is to, “..slit her belly open and swab the decks with her blood.” ‘Lady Lilith meanwhile, sporting two puncture marks on her neck, has, in the ship’s belly, encountered the mysterious stranger who has ignited dark passions in her soul and convinced her that she is now irresistible to men.
Into the mix is thrown would-be Englishman, Jonas Himmelberger (Joe da Silva) whose eastern European country has become part of the British Empire due to a spelling mistake on a map. He finds all things English perplexing and confusing: to dunk (one’s biscuit) or not to dunk, depending on the style of biscuit, is particularly exercising.
Lewis Cook has written the kind of witty script which allows the actors to do what all actors love to do on occasion: being silly and balancing on the knife edge between overacting and giving the script the heightened style of comic acting to make it zing. For the most part dialogue goes at a lick and consists in comic hyperbole and improbable explanations delivered with gusto and belief. Mr Corsar is notable in giving improbabilities a coat of respectable implausibility; summing up a description of Dracula in a way that suggests a sharpness of mind with borderline credulity as, “An old man who was young…and a bat?”
Tight direction from Laura Ollerton never allows the acting to cross the line from burlesque into the kind of satirical parody that can easily lose its way. It’s not difficult to see the hand of Python on both the script and style.
The play is presented by the Mission Theatre as part of World Dracula Day, but I wouldn’t mind betting that this show will find a life for some time to come as part of the lead up to Halloween.
★★★★☆ Graham Wyles, 28 May 2024
Photo credit: Vince Stadon, Sophie Harris
