The iconography of modern vampires can be traced back to a 1924 English stage version of Bram Stoker’s novel. On its centenary, the suave bloodsucker is returning to where it all began
ith his high-collared cape and piercing fangs, Dracula is every inch the quintessential vampire – instantly recognisable across culture. Portrayed hundreds of times in film, theatre, video games and spin-off books, the character is always evolving – an evolution that began in Derby.
The 1924 production took place at the Grand theatre, now an adult crazy golf venue. Adapting the novel into that first official staging came with challenges. “Number one was to get Florence Stoker – Bram’s widow – to agree,” says Dacre. Florence was in dispute over the unauthorised adaptation of Dracula into Nosferatu, FW Murnau’s celebrated 1922 silent film. “So she was under great stress,” says Dacre.
Edmund Blake, the actor who played Dracula in 1924, wore his own dinner suit on stage, alongside a cape with a high collar. “The Dracula cape was a stage prop,” says Dacre. The cape was attached to wires and suspended, so that Dracula could slip away through a trapdoor – another character would go to grab him but find he had vanished from behind the dangling cape. “It’s funny that what started as a prop on stage in Derby has stuck for ever,” he says.
The evolution of Dracula has seen him become more believable, says Dacre. “We don’t know who he really is or what disguise he’ll take. And this introduces a concept of vulnerability.” He says the enduring appeal of vampires – the hope of life after death and immortality – was helped by the 1924 play. Making Dracula more human-like “was a mechanism to let people identify with him, and to not immediately scare them off”.
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