Review: Carmilla, The Other Palace

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla is the original vampire tale, predating Dracula by 25 years, and its sapphic story makes it apt for the Pride month of June. Author, director and performer Laura J Harris has taken the gothic novella and transformed it into a story for the stage, changing certain elements and characters to make it fit the new medium. 

The plot, especially during the first act, remains faithful to Le Fanu’s novella up until the finale, which is completely original. Harris clearly wrote this play with a lot of love and respect for the original text, but also with an awareness of what works on stage, ensuring the story fits the medium. Certain features are retained throughout the show, such as the narration and the gothic-sounding dialogue (which in some cases is a paraphrase of the original language), and her changes evidently aim to fix aspects of the text that would not translate well to the stage. Laura, the protagonist, is a more apparent participant in the events of the story; more vocal about her feelings, fears, and desires. The production also clearly builds towards the new finale from the very beginning, relying on characters that the audience has followed from the start, rather than on the book’s deus-ex-machina Baron Vordenburg. 

Some issues remain, though, as not everything that makes it to the stage is polished enough. Maintaining both the framing device (a characteristic of the gothic tradition) and the narration between scenes muddles the show’s clarity, leading to some confusing moments. There is also an added romance, specifically invented for this play, between Dr Hessellius (Drew Haigh Hawksley) and Laura’s brother Arthur (Paul Philip Ryan) that takes away from the original sapphic storyline and becomes the main queer aspect of the show. (One has to wonder why the sapphic vampire story contains only kisses between men.)

The small stage is used quite cleverly, never feeling overly saturated even when there are many characters on stage. The actors occasionally use the spaces between the chairs, which opens up the area. The show’s choreography, which reveals the more supernatural elements of the story, is fantastic, truly feeling otherworldly and unnerving. However, the visual standout is the lighting, which is skilfully used to move between spaces, times, and moods. Lighting and score combined build up the gothic and suspenseful atmosphere. 

The incredibly talented cast makes the gothic dialogue sound relatively natural, truly embodying the spirit of the era. Hawksley’s Dr Hessellius, whose imposing presence on stage emphasises the character’s position of authority, and Ryan’s Arthur, who is equally as charming as he is protective over his sister, and Harris’s Laura, whose perfectly portrayed innocence and infatuation the story requires, all shine on stage. The star of the show, though, is Kirsty Beverly Howe as Carmilla. Her movements are magnetic, her tone and presence are both sweet and menacing, perfectly portraying the archetypical seductive vampire. 

This version of Carmilla tries to balance both the original gothic nature of the story with many changes that threaten to make the story unrecognisable. I cannot say that it is entirely successful, but it offers some impressive features, and it is definitely the right direction in which to take this story from book to stage.

Adapted from the novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Writer & Director, Sound & Lighting Designer, Composer: Laura J Harris
Wardrobe: Alayne Harris
Produced by Chalice Productions

The run of Carmilla at the Other Place is now completed.