Penny Dreadful – A Bite into Stoker’s Theatric

David Skal spoke about how Stoker sought to bring his monster to the stage.  His whole purpose in creating the monster “Dracula” was to seek approval and attention from his own “master,” famed theater actor Henry Irving.  Unfortunately, as Skal explains in his essay “His Hour Upon The Stage” Irving was not willing to share his relationship with Stoker, and as such mocked his work; as such Stoker became obsessed with proving himself to Irving. 

This obsession of Bram Stoker’s to produce his monster as a theatrical masterpiece would not be realized within his lifetime, though he would begin the steps that would set the stage itself for the monster to become the greatest of all monsters throughout decades.  Though he did attempt at one time with a “Reading” produced at the Lyceum Theater which was home to both Henry Irving and Stoker.  Stoker’s reading of “Dracula” in fact was 5 hours long.  He attempted to draw Irving into playing the title character of Dracula, but Irving was uninterested, therefore he used other actors from the famed theater for his production such as Whitworth Jones in the titular character of the monster, Herbert Passmore as Harker, and Tom Reynolds as Van Helsing. 

Unfortunately, one of the things Stoker also did in order to make his production more feasible was to adapt his reading to the stage, therefor he changed some of the monologue within the script.  An example of this was Jonathan Harker’s opening speech at the entry to Castle Dracula, of which Skal included in his essay “Hi! Hi! Where are you off to! Gone already! (knocks at door) Well this is a pretty nice state of things!  After a drive through solid darkness with an unknown man whose face I have not seen and who has in his hand the strength of twenty men and who can drive back a pack of wolves by holding up his hand, who visits mysterious blue flames and who wouldn’t speak a word he could help, to be left here in the dark before a – a ruins.”  Though this is only an example the speech continues in this vein for some time, giving the reader a vivid idea of what 5 hours of Stoker’s “Reading” truly entailed.

An example of his work can be seen within the television series produced by Showtime, Penny Dreadful.  Penny Dreadful is a masterpiece collection of Victorian gothic monster under one roof.  Though we have multiple scenes each scene is treated as a single scene within that episode.  You are never lost throughout the show.  The characters interact with each other, and some of them you never see but you know they are there, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

It is here that Skal’s essay comes to fruition, for throughout the essay he speaks how the monster evolved not only on the stage but in film through single scenes and theater tricks, beginning where often through the play you did not see him.  Rather you would hear his voice and watch the characters body language and faces for signs that he was near.  This is portrayed once more within Penny Dreadful by the character of Vanessa Ives.  She often hears the voice of Dracula throughout the series, but it is not until season 3, the final season, that you are finally introduced to the monster; and even then he is manipulating the situation as he has taken human form in order to deceive his intended victim, Vanessa.  He views her as his “Mina” and his “Lucy” in one package, only it will take the combined work of all characters together in order to save Vanessa from his clutches as she has fallen in “human” and “supernatural” love with him.

Penny Dreadful brings to us classic characters from Stoker’s Dracula while other characters from various literatures take on new dual roles:

Dr. Alexander Sweets – Count Dracula

Ethan Chandler – Jonathan Harker

Vanessa Ives – Mina Harker

Mina – Lucy

Dr. Seward – a woman and head of the asylum Vanessa stayed in earlier

Sir Malcom Murray – Van Helsing

Renfield – a patient of Dr. Seward and a submissive of Dracula’s

Though there are other nods to the characters to be found in Stoker’s novel these are the main players who impact each other.  It is also important to note that Ethan is a werewolf in Penny Dreadful, bringing another famed work of gothic horror to life, “The American Werewolf in London.” The show has also made Mina the daughter of Sir Malcom and the childhood friend of Vanessa, helping to tie the characters all together. 

Though the characters in Penny Dreadful veered slightly off the beaten path from Stoker’s original intent, the show managed to keep to the base personality and attitude he created.  One can feel drawn into the show as one is drawn into Stoker’s tale of horror.  You can feel the fascination with the monster and the intrigue into the setting itself every time Dracula whispers to Vanessa in Penny Dreadful, or seeks to draw her into the shadows.  There is creepiness in the unknown, and yet we would not have this monster or this tale, if Stoker had not become obsessed with proving to his “Master” in his anger, jealousy, and frenetic passion to be accepted as play write worthy of Irving’s talent. 

References:

1.      Stoker, Bram, Nina Auerbach, and David J. Skal. Dracula: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Reviews and Reactions, Dramatic and Film Variations, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Print.

2.      “Penny Dreadful - Official Series Site | SHOWTIME.” SHO.com, www.sho.com/penny-dreadful.