Monday 27 May
The Mission Theatre
In Bram Stoker's celebrated fang-fest Dracula, the barmy bloodsucker leaves Transylvania and sets sail on the Demeter to wreak havoc in England. By the time the ship docks in Whitby (Whitby??!), the crew are dead, the captain bound lifeless to the helm. What befell the vulnerable crew during that ominous voyage? What happened to the doggy that was seen leaving the ship? And which type of biscuit is the optimum to dunk?
All these issues, and more, are covered in Lewis Cook's irreverent-yet-ominous spoof The Demeter, presented by Boogie Nachts Theatre for two nights as part of the Bath Fringe, to a packed and appreciative audience at the Mission Theatre. Director Laura Ollerton offers a simple yet versatile set, set against an endlessly restless sea backdrop, with moments of spooky vintage music, and keeps the scene changes brisk and the pace energised, though a couple of scenes featuring seated sailors downstage were heard but not seen by all except the front row due to sight lines.
Cook's script is witty, highly literate, and straddles both period and modern dialogue, and switches seamlessly between the humour and the horror. In truth some editing would have helped, as this is a very wordy play with just one set over 2½ hours; but then what (except a jugular) do you cut?
The cast have great chemistry and timing, and bring the absurd humour very much to the fore. Cook himself is in it as, well, the cook, with a strident delivery and an impressively gruff voice, while Joe da Silva plays the put-upon Jonas with hilarious wild-eyed confusion reminiscent of Fawlty Towers' Manuel. But getting the biggest laughs are Ciaran Corsar as the stoical, sexually-slippery Captain McRoker and Amy Smith as the lone female (and doesn't she know it?) Lady Whitman. Corsar's captain seems to have stepped straight out of a Noel Coward play, clearly relishing the accent (he's bound for "Whitbeh" and enjoys eating the "ceptain's hem"), and his descent from fortitude to delirium is a joy, whilst Smith gurns and vamps for England as the not-really-very-sexy sex bomb with a death wish, who believes all men are instant prey to her charms (spoiler alert: they aren't). A masterclass in comic timing.
And what of the caped count himself? He is in the cast list. Will he eventually appear, and in what form? Well now, that would be telling...
Steve Huggins
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