Dracula (1975)

World Premiere: 26 November 1975
Venue: Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough

Play Description: Grey Play
Published / Available to Stage: No

Short Synopsis: A one act sketch in which the vampire Dracula arrives at a strange farmhouse during a full moon. It was presented as part of the revue What The Devil!

The Grey Plays are acknowledged miscellaneous minor pieces by Alan Ayckbourn, which have received limited performance but have never been published, are not available for production and are not included in the official canon of Ayckbourn plays.

History

Dracula is a one act sketch by Alan Ayckbourn originally presented as part of What The Devil!, a revue devised by Bob Eaton and Polly Warren for Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre company in 1975. The show was originally conceived to tour pubs in the Scarborough and Ryedale area with three actors (Bob Eaton, Polly Warren and David Ross). It appears to have largely been conceived as the result of Scarborough's Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre receiving funding from the recently formed Norton and Malton Arts Council.

After the touring season finished, the success of the revue led to four performances being staged at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre from 26 - 29 November with a slightly expanded programme and a new cast with Bob Eaton and Polly Warren joined by Stephen Mallatratt, Alison Skilbeck and Malcolm Hebden. The piece was performed in the smaller Lecture room space at the Library as during the winter 1974 and 1975 seasons, the Concert Room was unavailable. As a result, all the productions were staged in a thrust rather than in-the-round configuration. What The Devil! was later revived as part of a four week residency by the company at the Georgian Theatre, Richmond, in May 1976.

Alan Ayckbourn’s connection to all this is he contributed one of the sketches to the expanded version of the revue performed at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and the Georgian Theatre. The five-hander is entitled Dracula and features the infamous vampire and his hunch-backed henchman Squelch’s encounter with an unintelligible shepherd, his wife and peculiar daughter. It has nothing to do with the actual story of Dracula other than sharing a vampire by the same name.

Alan also contributed a song entitled The Ghost Of 'Enry Albert to the revue, with music by Bob Eaton. It tells of an unfortunate bride whose recurrent bridal nights are haunted by the ghost of her first husband 'Enry Albert Murgatroyd (no relation!). The song was featured in both the touring and expanded versions of the show, although the programme refers to it as 'Enry Albert's Ghost (probably due to space limitations).

Intriguingly in 2003, the song was published as part of a 'festschrift' for Albert-Reiner Glaap - a German academic and friend of Alan who wrote several books on his plays. Alan altered the song to "Albert 'Enry's Ghost" changing the lyrics accordingly.

It was largely believed this was the only production of Dracula, but in 1992 it formed part of another revue - again directed by Bob Eaton - at the New Victoria Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Dracula was revived as part of The Night Before The Morning After Show, which ran at the venue between January and March 1992.

The one act play also provided the inspiration for Horror Story, one of the pieces presented within Alan Ayckbourn's The Karaoke Theatre Company, first presented at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in 2016. Although not a direct copy of the original piece, it is very much inspired by Dracula and includes the same ending with the [spoilers!] 'heroine' unexpectedly being a werewolf.

Premiere Production Details (1975)

First performance: 26 November 1975
Final performance: 29 November 1975
Venue: The Lecture Room, Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough
Staging: Thrust

Directors: Bob Eaton & Polly Warren

Character
Dracula
Squelch
Seth
Martha
Deidre

Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Malcolm Hebden
Bob Eaton
Alison Skilbeck
Polly Warren

Note: Dracula was presented as part of the revue What The Devil!

Dracula (1975)

History

Premiere Production Details (1975)

Further Reading