REVIEW: Dracula (Blackeyed Theatre)

 Dracula - ★★☆☆☆ - Atmospheric

Pavilion Theatre Glasgow: Tue 6 – Wed 7 May 2025
Review by Rebecca Mahar

Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 13 May 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin.

Blackeyed Theatre’s Dracula is an atmospheric adaptation of Bram Stoker’s seminal Gothic novel, with more ambitions than successes.

An epistolatory novel, Dracula is challenging to adapt, notwithstanding the generalized knowledge that an audience tends to already have of the story. Written and directed by Nick Lane, this version somehow manages to fall prey both to over-reliance on this pre-existing knowledge, and to the assumption that the audience will read the six-part, several thousand word synopsis of the play in the £4 programme before the show begins.

Richard Keightley, Marie Osmon, Pelé Kelland-Beau and Harry Rundle. Pic: Karl Andre Smit.

Rather than focussing on selected strands of Stoker’s novel to create a cohesive and compelling play, Lane has attempted to include everything. The result is a highlight reel of abridgement, lacking in connective tissue, pace, urgency and interest, despite excellent performances from the company.

Visit All Edinburgh Theatre to read the full review!

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