Dracula Triumphant

The Ocracy's latest production, Dracula Triumphant is now playing a limited season at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. Having attended opening night, I found the show to be a mixture of halves. The show is a contemporary reworking of the original Bram Stoker tale, which entwines itself with an unusual religious myth about Sebastian, the ill-fated saint. The production relies heavily on the minimilalist approach to theatre, with few props, no set changes and an odd use of the heavy stage curtain, which does little to aid in providing clarity for the audience, many of whom seemed baffled by the many twists and turns in the story. However, whilst the production values on stage are slightly questionable, there is much to be said about the majesty of composer Aaron Kernaghan's original music. Combined with powerhouse vocal performances from the four leads, the rock opera score was enormously textual, with the battle of good and evil graphically painted. Kernaghan's outstanding compositions seemed to envelop numerous themes, dancing a wonderfully exuberant dance with blinding flashes of elegant brilliance and seeming to channel influences from Meatloaf to Danny Elfman. Dracula Triumphant as a production is a night out which may leave you scratching your head about what your eyes witnessed, but leave you in no doubt about the fresh new musical talent that is Aaron Kernaghan; his music certainly the triumph in this show.