Dracula (play)
Encyclopedia
Dracula is a 1924 stage play adapted by Hamilton Deane
from the novel of the same name
by Bram Stoker
, and substantially revised by John L. Balderston
in 1927. It was the first adaptation of the novel authorised by Stoker's widow, and has influenced many subsequent adaptations.
The original production starred Raymond Huntley
as Dracula; Deane had originally intended to play the title role himself, but in the event opted for the role of Van Helsing
. This production toured England for three years before settling in London.
In 1927 the play was brought to Broadway
by Horace Liveright
, who hired John L. Balderston
to revise the script for American audiences. The American production starred Bela Lugosi
in his first major English-speaking role, with Edward Van Sloan
as Van Helsing; both actors reprised their roles in the 1931 film version
, which drew on the Deane-Balderston play.
In addition to radically compressing the plot, the play reduced the number of significant characters, combining Lucy Westenra
and Mina Murray
into a single character, making John Seward
this Lucy's father, and disposing of Quincey Morris
and Arthur Holmwood
.
The play was revived in 1977, in a production featuring set and costume designs by Edward Gorey
and starring Frank Langella
as Dracula. The production won Tony Award
s for Best Revival
and Best Costume Design
, and was nominated for Best Scenic Design and Best Leading Actor in a Play (Langella). Langella, like Lugosi, went on to reprise the role in the 1979 film version. Subsequent actors in the title role for the Broadway revival included David Dukes
, Raul Julia
and Jean LeClerc
, while the London production starred Terence Stamp
and American touring companies starred Martin Landau
and Jeremy Brett
.
Hamilton Deane
Hamilton Deane was an Irish actor, playwright and director. He played a key role in popularising Bram Stoker's Dracula as a stage play and, later, a film.-Life:Deane was born in Clontarf, a suburb of Dublin...
from the novel of the same name
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
by Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
, and substantially revised by John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his horror and fantasy scripts....
in 1927. It was the first adaptation of the novel authorised by Stoker's widow, and has influenced many subsequent adaptations.
The original production starred Raymond Huntley
Raymond Huntley
Raymond Huntley was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s through to the 1970s...
as Dracula; Deane had originally intended to play the title role himself, but in the event opted for the role of Van Helsing
Abraham Van Helsing
Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
. This production toured England for three years before settling in London.
In 1927 the play was brought to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
by Horace Liveright
Horace Liveright
Horace Brisbin Liveright was an American publisher and stage producer. With Albert Boni, he founded the Modern Library and Boni & Liveright publishers. He published books from numerous influential American and British authors...
, who hired John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his horror and fantasy scripts....
to revise the script for American audiences. The American production starred Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
in his first major English-speaking role, with Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
as Van Helsing; both actors reprised their roles in the 1931 film version
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
, which drew on the Deane-Balderston play.
In addition to radically compressing the plot, the play reduced the number of significant characters, combining Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family. Her father is not mentioned in the novel and her elderly mother is simply stated as being Mrs. Westenra. Lucy is introduced as Mina Murray's best friend. In the 1931...
and Mina Murray
Mina Harker
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel Dracula.- In the novel :She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young school mistress who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and best friends with Lucy Westenra...
into a single character, making John Seward
John Seward
John Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.-In the novel:Seward is the administrator of an insane asylum not far from Count Dracula's first English home, Carfax. Throughout the novel, Seward conducts ambitious interviews with one of his patients,...
this Lucy's father, and disposing of Quincey Morris
Quincey Morris
Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three suitors for the hand of Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with the two other suitors, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. John Seward, as well as Jonathan...
and Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
.
The play was revived in 1977, in a production featuring set and costume designs by Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
and starring Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
as Dracula. The production won Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s for Best Revival
Tony Award for Best Revival
The Tony Award for Best Revival was presented from 1977 until 1994, when it was split into the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. If there are not enough revivals, it is possible under the current Tony rules for the "Best Revival of a Play or...
and Best Costume Design
Tony Award for Best Costume Design
These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals...
, and was nominated for Best Scenic Design and Best Leading Actor in a Play (Langella). Langella, like Lugosi, went on to reprise the role in the 1979 film version. Subsequent actors in the title role for the Broadway revival included David Dukes
David Dukes
David Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
, Raul Julia
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
and Jean LeClerc
Jean LeClerc (actor)
Jean LeClerc is a Québécois actor. In the original French, his name is spelled Jean Leclerc. He is best known for his work in the United States as Jeremy Hunter on the American daytime soap operas All My Children and Loving in the 1980s and 1990s.LeClerc first started his career in Quebec on the...
, while the London production starred Terence Stamp
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
and American touring companies starred Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
and Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
.
1924 London cast
- Count Dracula: Raymond HuntleyRaymond HuntleyRaymond Huntley was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s through to the 1970s...
- Abraham van Helsing: Hamilton Deane
- Doctor Seward: Stuart Lomath
- Jonathan Harker: Bernard Guest
- Quincy P. Morris: Frieda Hearn
- Lord Godalming: Peter Jackson
- R. M. Renfield: Bernard Jukes
- The Warder: Jack Howarth
- The Parlourmaid: Hilda Macleod
- The Housemaid: Betty Murgatroyd
- Mina Harker: Dora Mary Patrick
1927 New York cast
- Count Dracula: Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
- Abraham Van Helsing: Edward Van SloanEdward Van SloanEdward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
- Dr. Seward: Herbert BunstonHerbert BunstonHerbert Bunston was a British stage and screen actor. He is probably best remembered for his role as Dr. John Seward in the Broadway and film versions of Dracula....
- Lucy Harker: Dorothy PetersonDorothy PetersonDorothy Peterson was an American actress.Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota of Swedish immigrant ancestry. She made her screen debut in 1930's Mothers Cry, a domestic drama that required the 29-year-old actress to age nearly three decades in the course of the film...
- Jonathan Harker: Terence Neill
- R.M. Renfield: Bernard Jukes
- Butterworth: Alfred Frith
- Miss Wells, a maid: Nedda Harrigan
Original version
- When Lucy is mentioned her last name is Westera not Westenra.
- The play begins after the death of Mina (who is mentioned but never seen).
- In Deane's original production, Quincey Morris was a woman, perhaps due to a shortage of male actors.
Revised version
- The characters of Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris are omitted.
- Dr Seward is now Lucy's father rather than her suitor. He runs a mental institute in the English countryside, rather than adjoining Carfax Abbey, London.
- Harker's first name is John not Jonathan, and he does not go to Transylvania, Renfield does. Count Dracula is already living in England by the time the play starts.
- A new character is introduced, Lucy's maid, who survives.
- Harker and Lucy do not marry as he and Mina did in the novel.
- Dracula sleeps under Dr Seward's house. It is here that he is staked by Harker, rather than stabbed by Morris, after Van Helsing tricks Renfield into revealing the location of Dracula's coffins.
- Renfield survives.
External links and references
- Dracula on the Boards at The Dracula Guide
- Dracula at National Players