victorianfanguide:The programme from the first theatrical performance of ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker wh

victorianfanguide:The programme from the first theatrical performance of ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker which took place at the Lyceum Theatre in London on 18th May 1897. The performance took the form of a dramatic reading of the proofs of the text and was staged just over a week before the novel was published on 26th May. As with all public readings of unpublished material in the 19th century, posters advertising the production were only put up outside the theatre half an hour before it started at 10:15am. As a result only two paying members of the public attended, with the rest of the small audience being made up of some of the theatre’s actors, crew and staff. The reading is said to have taken 4 hours although a modern reenactment, performed at high speed, took 6. The title of the performance ‘Dracula or The Undead’ is a result of Bram Stoker’s indecision over the final name of the novel. Two days after the reading he settled on ‘The Undead’ and only changed it to ‘Dracula’ at the very last minute.That ‘Miss Craig’ who’s planning Mina? That’s Edith Craig, Ellen Terry’s daughter and Gordon Craig’s sister. -- source link
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