The company’s production of the story will open at the Harrogate Theatre on the 12th September.
Full casting has now been confirmed for the Blackeyed Theatre’s production of Dracula, embarking on a UK tour from next month.
Adapted and directed by Nick Lane, the cast will include: Maya-Nika Bewley (Offie nomination Locomotive for Murder: The Improvised Whodunnit) playing the roles of Mina Harker / Dr Hennessey, David Chafer (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and The Importance of Being Earnest – Theatre Mill) playing the roles of Abraham van Helsing / Count Dracula, Richard Keightley (Ben and Imo – Royal Shakespeare Company, Watch on the Rhine – Donmar Warehouse, Twelfth Night – National Theatre) playing the roles of Dr John Seward / Count Dracula, Pelé Kelland-Beau (Painkiller and Run – Theatre Royal Stratford East) playing the roles of Jonathan Harker / Quincey Morris, Marie Osman (Aromatherapy – Talawa Theatre Company, Nowhere To Run – Hampstead Theatre, Babe, The Sheep Pig – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) playing the roles
of Lucy Westenra / Renfield and Harry Rundle (Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – Palace
Theatre, Florian Zeller’s The Son – Duke of York Theatre) playing the roles of Arthur Holmwood / Count Dracula.
The time is 1897. Mankind is on the cusp of vast technological change, scientific mastery and media innovation. Poised between traditional beliefs, the threat of the unknown and the shock of the new world, an altogether darker fear is emerging. As a new shadow looms large over England, a small group of young men and women, led by Professor Van Helsing, are plunged into an epic struggle for survival.
Stretching from London, through provincial England, to the mountainous wastes of Transylvania, Bram Stoker’s timeless gothic thriller embodies the struggle to break taboos, resist temptation and stop the unknown outside becoming the enemy within.
The press night for this new production based on Bram Stoker’s story will take place at the Grand Theatre in Derby, which is where Hamilton Dean’s 1924 production of Dracula marked the first official appearance on stage of Stoker’s iconic title character.
Writer and Director Nick Lane said:“I’m always excited to work with Blackeyed Theatre, and Dracula is such a cracking work – tense, dense and dripping with menace. I wanted to tell the classic story, but also to try and explore certain elements within it in a slightly different way. When you blend the familiar and the strange, as we did with Jekyll & Hyde and more recently the Sherlock adaptation ‘The Valley of Fear,’ what you’re hoping is that the fans of the story – whether in book, film or TV form – feel you’ve done Bram Stoker justice, while those that are coming to Dracula with no preconceptions are drawn in by the mystery of who Count Dracula is. And of course ultimately you want to give everyone a great night out.”
The production will feature original music by Tristan Parkes, with the creative team also including: Enric Ortuño (Movement and Intimacy Director), Victoria Spearing (Set Designer), Naomi Gibbs (Costume Designer) and Oliver Welsh (Lighting Designer).
To find out more about where the production will be heading to visit: https://blackeyedtheatre.co.uk/shows-2/shows/dracula/