How Has Dracula Continued to Remain at the Forefront of Theatre for More Than One Hundred Years?
A little-known fact about Bram Stoker’s seminal Dracula novel in 1897 was that it was preceded by a stage show. The author wrote the script for Dracula, or The Undead and it was performed eight days before the publication of the novel. This version of the play was only seen once, but it kickstarted a tradition of Dracula adaptations that has stood strong on the stage for more than one hundred years. The iconic character and story are highly adaptable, which is why it continues to influence modern theatre and appeal to different audiences.
Dracula Novel Perfectly Arranged for the Stage
While Stoker’s stage version of Dracula was notably scrappy, the novel did lend itself well to the theatre format. This is because it is arranged into distinctive parts which occur in only a handful of settings. This allows for stagehands to quickly swap props out between scenes. Due to the popularity of the novel and because of its layout, theatre production companies soon realized the value of modifying it for the www.
The first major adaptation of the novel was by Hamilton Deane in 1924, and it was named Dracula, The Vampire Play. Thanks to its opening on Broadway in 1927, the play was credited with helping to bring mainstream attention to Stoker’s novel. It also led to a 1931 film version directed by Tod Browning and Karl Freund. Since that early offering, there have been more than ten other drama adaptations for the stage, along with a host of musicals, operas, and ballets.
Modern Adaptations Have Attracted Fresh Audiences
One of the ways that Dracula continues to be such a prominent figure in mainstream culture is thanks to writers adjusting the script for contemporary audiences. This has been seen in other areas of the entertainment industry as well as theatre. For instance, in the recent Dracula miniseries on the BBC and Netflix, Dracula was transported to 21st Century Britain. Some works have taken a more comedic approach on the character to appeal to the masses.
An example of this is Ooh Aah Dracula by Barcrest, which has been one of the top games at online casinos since 2015 and attracts players because of its whacky themes. This demonstrates that, as well as slot fans searching for titles by which slots have the best RTP, theme is also very important. The fluidity and potential of the Transylvanian Count clearly lends itself well to comedy. Another comedic Dracula title can be found in the television series What We Do in The Shadows, a delightfully silly but somewhat dark interpretation.
On the stage, there have been plenty of twists on the original novel to bring freshness to the character. In 1998, Undead, Dreams of Darkness transferred Dracula to a modern setting and mixed the characters with those found in Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 gothic novella, Carmilla. Another unique take on the iconic vampire was Dracula, Another Bloody Musical, in which Harry Herbert played the eponymous lead. It premiered in Westminster Theatre in 1988 and was attended by Princess Diana.
It seems that audiences, as well as theatre production companies, will never tire of Dracula. The novel was made for the stage, and the fact that it can easily be altered without losing its overarching premise means that it can continually be refreshed over the years.
