DRACULA
Adapted and Directed by Ashley Scott Layton
Produced in association with RavenRock
Director: Ashley Scott Layton
Producers: Rowena English and Molly Nicholson
Choreographer: Kelly Louise Birchall
Choir Master: Daniel Kelly
Musical Director: Nektarios Rodosthenous
Lighting Design: Tanya Stephenson
Stage Manager: Nick Coupe
Cast:
Ekow Quartey, Joe Sowerbutts, Stephanie De Whalley, Amy Marchant, Edmund Digby Jones, Tom Simpson, Joshua Bowsher, Hannah Patterson, Liam Mulvey, Louise Roberts, Felicity Elder, Francesca Stokes, Jamie Askill, Clare Scott Underdown, Helen Kennedy, Daisy Ausden, Sophie Juterbock, Laura Deacon, Kate Overy, Lucy Moores, Emily Slater, Emma Lawson, Sophie Freeman, Sophie George-Moore, Francesca Knight, Sophie Romanik, Rory Vieyra, Harry Fitzwilliam-Pipe, Samantha Dewar, Rebbeca Halse, Alyson Howe, Lara Owen, Frances Drain, Marco Bagli, Shirin Marker, Alison Ford, Becky Holden, Alice Douglas, Anna Nicholson, Jamie Gurrie, Jessica Barrett, Alice Wilkes, Emily Cook, Marianna Booth, Claire Berman-Robinson.
REVIEWS
Alexandra Brezicka, Leeds Student Newspaper
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It seems that all the late nights and heavy drinking have turned the students of Leeds into blood sucking, snarling vampires who really do live by night. TG and Ravenrock have joined forces to dramatize Bram Stoker's much-loved novel 'Dracula' and the outcome is a high drama infusion of contemporary dance, theatre and music that does not fail to impress. Director Ashley Scott-Layton took a risk in choosing to dramatize a story that has been adapted for film no less than 160 times, yet it was a risk worth taking.
The Performance is by no means understated but it is the ostentatious indulgence in gothic horror that makes it all the more entertaining.
From the moment they step into the theatre, the audience is sucked straight into an underworld of warped reality, blood spattered bodies writhe in pain with noises so chilling they seem not to be human. Kelly Louise Birchall's intelligent and meticulously choreographed dance sequences are cleverly intertwined with riveting soliloquies of pure drama that help to keep alive the epistolary structure of the original novel. It is pleasing to see this fifty plus cast work so well together as a cohesive unit.
There is no one person who steals the show at the expense of others, and it seems to have been a conscious decision to bring out the individual and wide ranging talents of all cast members which include dancing on pointe, juggling speaking italian and german.
Layton states in his Director’s Note that the term 'student theatre' was one he wanted to disengage from. If you are lucky enough to see this show, after two hours of highly entertaining, slickly executed staging, choreography and performance you will see that these students have approached their art with a dedication that is more suited to the term professional. In other words, student theatre this most definitely is not.
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Stephen Moore, Impressions:
Coming to see this production at Leeds University I tried to rid myself of any preconceptions. I wondered would it be “Dracula – A Bloody Awful Evening” or “Leeds Students Shine in new take on Dracula Epic Triumph”? In the end it was of necessity extremely bloody and when the final horrific screams died away a Triumph.
I had heard that there would be music, dancing and talking in foreign languages and on entering the auditorium I was greeted by the sounds of a poor soul franticly praying in Italian and members of the cast filtering hauntingly and scarily among the audience.
As the lights lowered live chamber music began to play and we (the audience) were drawn unwillingly and willingly into Bram Stoker’s awful vision of a life without end fed by the destruction of innocents and not so innocents alike.
Immediately one’s thoughts would fly to the Fritzi’s and the baby P’s of the world today and the seeming inevitability of the destruction of what we ought to love and cherish, such was the atmosphere conjured up by this no holds barred production.
On the less cerebral side the dancing and what I can only call gymnastics were performed with such discipline and bravery that hardened professionals would have been proud to achieve such a high standard. Yes, some of the dances made their point and then went on and made the same point again and yes there were others which were absolutely riveting and could have lasted twice as long, such as the walking pattern Pina Bausch type number performed with such precision by a cast of more than fifty.
On the acting side there were no performances for which you had to say “oh but they were only students after all” All pulled their weight extremely well and it would be churlish to single out any performance although I was struck by the charismatic Dracula played by Ekow Quartey.
I’m afraid this critique might seem too dry and rarefied (I resisted saying bloodless) but I can only say you had to be there. The combination of the Dracula story, the music, the production, the choreography, the dancing and acting and effects combined to create an entertaining, harrowing and thought provoking evening.
