Touring theatre company Le Navet Bete are bringing their long-running, comedic take on Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula to Greenwich Theatre. With four actors playing over 40 characters between them, Dracula: The Bloody Truth is a madcap voyage to the Transylvanian mountains that tells a different story to the one we know. Professor Van Helsing is out to warn audiences of the dangers of dealing with vampires, but the gaggle of amateur actors he’s hired to illustrate his cautionary tale soon cause chaos.
The Weekender spoke to Nick Bunt, co-artistic director of Le Navet Bete, about finding comedy in horror and what keeps this Dracula on the road…
Holly O’Mahony: Firstly, could you start by telling us about your theatre company Le Navet Bete? Am I right in thinking you’ve been creating work together since university?
Nick Bunt: I am co-artistic director of Le Navet Bete and have been with the company since 2007. We all met at university studying theatre and performance, and the other guys were in the year above me. They formed the company in its initial form when they graduated in 2006 and I joined the year after. We started out rehearsing once a week in a little church hall in Exmouth, Devon and wrote a 60 minute, totally chaotic, bonkers, nonsense show to take to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008. Thankfully, audiences and critics absolutely loved it and we thought ‘maybe we can do this?!’ In our early days we toured internationally quite a bit, as far as Mexico, indoors and outdoors, and that really helped to shape our creative style. We’ve sort of streamlined the nonsensical, intense ideas into fun, hilarious and still chaotic takes on well-known titles such as Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers and, of course, Dracula.
HOM: Without asking for spoilers, how would you describe your show Dracula: The Bloody Truth to audiences who haven’t seen it before?
NB: The premise of Dracula: The Bloody Truth is that Professor Abraham van Helsing (who I play) has put together a ‘Public Information Seminar’ to warn people about the real dangers of vampires as his good friend Bram Stoker stole all of his notes and diary entries, and turned them into a fictional novel. The Professor has hired three very amateur actors to put together the true events of Count Dracula. Does the evening go to plan? You’ll have to come and find out.
HOM: Your comedy-driven production of Dracula has been doing the rounds for some time. What inspired it in the first place? And, has it changed over the years?
NB: Dracula: The Bloody Truth had its debut in March 2017, but it’s just as popular as ever. We always found the idea of a comedy horror really intriguing and thought that the classic vampire tale would be perfect to get our teeth into (sorry!). It’s the full Bram Stoker novel played out as you’ve never seen it before. Our style of comedy theatre has a real connection with the audience, as we address them throughout the show, breaking down the ‘fourth wall’. I’d say the show has improved over the years; we’re constantly finding new things in the material and will always have the audience in stitches. It’s fun for us too as it keeps it fresh and exciting!
HOM: Your style of comedy is highly physical. How do you warm up for that? And, what is it about slapstick that makes it so perennially popular?
NB: We perform our shows at breakneck speed, which keeps us super fit. You don’t need a gym membership doing what we do, that’s for sure, but we take our physical and vocal warm ups before the show seriously. Dracula: The Bloody Truth is especially manic as we don’t have a stage manager backstage helping with props and costume, it’s just us running about frantically making the show happen, which suits the drama perfectly! I think we play around 40 characters between the four of us. Slapstick and physical comedy are timeless – they’ve been performed for centuries from the Greeks to Shakespeare and to more modern legends like Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Lee Evans. Whether you’re 8 or 108 there’s plenty in this show to enjoy. People just like seeing people fall over!
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HOM: Lastly, how do you successfully turn a blood-thirsty horror story into a comedy? Is there a formula, or a key tool, to make it land?
NB: With the horror genre there are things people come to expect: loud bangs, sudden blackouts, high-pitched screams. So we play a lot with that. But the premise of the show – with van Helsing’s focus on safety and the other actors really not having a clue about how to carry it off – juxtaposes the horror with side-splitting comedy. Dracula: The Bloody Truth has been published and licensed worldwide, and audiences all over the world from the US and Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all fallen in love with these four total idiots trying to protect themselves from the dangers of vampires but miserably failing in their attempt.
Dracula: The Bloody Truth is showing at Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES. May 2 – 6, 7pm, and additionally at 2pm on May 3. Admission: £10 – £20.
www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/dracula-the-bloody-truth/
