The Vampire, Bride of the Isles

Tombs, thunder storms, castles, spirits, imperilled maidens and of course... Musical numbers. What more could you hope for in a horror play? Well, perhaps an infamous vampire.

The Vampire, Bride of the Isles is the story of Lord Ruthven, a mysterious undead fiend who must, to preserve his unnatural state of being, at certain intervals marry a young virgin and drain her blood. Returning from the dead, will Ruthven prey upon the lovely Lady Margaret, daughter of his only friend…? Will his plans be spoiled by his own love for the maiden? Or will her friends preserve her from his dastardly scheme?

The play is undoubtedly the best vampire musical ever produced by the Massey University Drama Society (MUDS). In fact, it’s the only one. After all, they don’t come around that often. The play itself was first written by J.R. Planché in 1820, and its original source material is taken from just prior to that: 1819, when John Polidori first published his tale of the gentleman vampire Lord Ruthven.

Polidori’s novella, also titled The Vampyre, was first conceived of on that same night of scary story-telling on which Mary Shelley dreamed up Frankenstein – in effect making Ruthven one of the closest things to Gothic royalty and beginning a tradition in which vampires dressed well, spoke well, and made a charged seduction of their human prey.

There are numerous differences between Polidori’s story and the one presented by Planché. Planché is little known today despite being a prolific writer in the 19th century, churning out more than 170 theatrical productions. His retelling of The Vampire brings the tale of Lord Ruthven to the stage in the form of a melodrama, with a heavily domesticated setting, plenty of fainting females and cheerful ditties to boot. It sanitises some of the more subversive elements of the original text, but still leaves plenty of room for spooky settings and special effects.

After all, the Gothic melodrama has a long tradition of spectacle on the stage. Sadly trap doors aren’t that easy to come by in Palmerston North, but director Leigh McLennon has been working with set director (and MUSA President) Matt Poucher to retain some of the sense of this exciting action on the stage. The main feature of Poucher’s set is the moon, essential to the plot, but the play also works with revolving pieces, a moving ocean and plenty of smoke. They hope that when combined with a simple, elegant design, this set will give the audience a taste of that fun Victoriana staging.

Fun, says McLennon, is the most important thing to her about this play. “The melodrama can be a little difficult for contemporary audiences to get into,” she say. “It’s full of stereotypes and over-the-top action. But vampires are often associated with a good sense of Gothic kitsch. I’ve got a great cast. They have a lot of fun with the play and that should carry.” A postgraduate student, tutor and Library employee at Massey University, The Vampire is Leigh’s first attempt at directing. Her selection of the play stemmed from a life-long interest in horror novels. Leigh hopes to incorporate this interest in the gothic her future academic specialisation in literature.

As for the vampire himself, Lord Ruthven is played by regular on the Palmerston North theatre scene, David Collins. As well as performing in numerous productions around town, including several years of Summer Shakespeare, Collins last year won The Manawatu (International) One-Act Playwriting Competition. His play “The Thought Experiment” was performed as part of the 2008 Manawatu Festival of New Arts. Collins is looking forward to getting back on the stage himself in the coming weeks, and doing some good scaring and entertaining.

The Vampire, Bride of the Isles is being performed at the Globe Theatre for four nights only. For more information or booking please email l.m.mclennon@massey.ac.nz

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