Dracula at Doncaster Playhouse

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Posted 2023-05-29 by Ann about Town ⇒ follow

Fri 26 May 2023 - Sat 03 Jun 2023

I've never been to Doncaster Playhouse before.

From the outside, it's very striking like an old gothic church and there's a parking lot right behind it which is convenient given Friday was your typically blustery Melbourne evening.

The box office to my delight is the same as the bar and we sip red wine and Fanta as we're shown our seats on a printed seating chart.

My ticket is a post-it note with E10 and E11 written in pencil and I'm greatly amused when the staff inform us that the seating chart is backwards meaning it's a while before everyone is in their correct seat and the show can go on.

The performance opens with Renfield, a patient at the local asylum and devoted manservant of Dracula emerging from the back row. He tells us of Bram Stoker's humble beginnings in theatre and pays homage to "the lowest form of theatre participation - the critic" which puts a smile on my face for the whole production.

Dracula is an excellent book that makes for an absolutely thrilling play. Characters are swathed in appropriately ye olde attire - think floor-length skirts and waistcoats - and find themselves unwillingly swept up in the Count's bloodthirsty plans to emigrate to London and transform more pure victims into "children of the night."

Through the magic of theatre, twin lights transform into the piercing eyes of hundreds of werewolves as Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, escapes from Castle Dracula and the watchful eyes of the Eponymous Count as he preys on the sweet but capricious Lucy.

Told through journal entries, letters, and telegrams, this 3-hour adaptation presented by the deliciously blooded Thespians at Playhouse Players Inc. and directed by Peter T Nathan is a prime example of evocative storytelling. The cast is immensely talented and like Dracula, their performances are brilliant, seductive and rich.

While not suitable for younger audiences due to its horror themes, those fortuitous enough to catch the show in its final days will be glad that they did - a must-see for horror fans and theatre-goers alike.