THE first thing there is to know about Abergavenny Theatre Group’s production of Dracula is that like the eponymous anti-hero’s teeth it is a bit too long for comfort.

Coming in at a little over three hours in length the production could have benefitted no end from a little judicious pruning which would not only have increased the comfort levels for the audience, but also tightened the drama and pace immeasurably. By using the green pencil and cutting the length by a good hour the whole flow of the production would have been quickened as it headed to its climax rather than becoming the sometimes stuttery affair it was on opening night.

It was more than obvious from the outset that the writer and director, Fiona Angwin is a aficionado of the original - sometimes something that it not an asset when adapting a piece for the stage, when often a newcomer to the work finds it easier to cut away the superfluous.

That is not to say that the production was poor - far from it. There were some good performances and some excellent ones - Les Hayes as the Count worked well, maintaining a difficult accent with skill and by and large conveying the menacing evil of the character, while Mari-Anne Gibson impressed as Mina Harker - her debut in a principal role. Her final scenes were powerful and extremely well played boding well for her further appearances with the company.

Other praise-worthy performances came from Clare Jacob as Edda, Emma-Jayne Morris as Lucy and Rob Tollman as Jonathan Harker.

As the three friends at the heart of the story, Thomas Gibson, Richard Griffiths and Andrew Williams worked well, although on occasion their relative inexperience showed - something that will only improve with time.

John Geraghty was a suitably competent Van Helsing, despite the slightly wandering accent, while Andrea Hitchman swooned well as Mrs Westenra.

Although best known for his comedic playing, Snowy Clark brought a quiet dignity to the often hammed up role of Renfield and his death scene was one of the more powerful dramatic moments of the evening.

While the drama was always kept to the forefront there were times when the production faltered - I’m not sure that the cast doubling as stage hands worked as slickly in real-life as in theory and for me the failure to adequately built the tension sometimes left the audience hanging in mid air while the action took a break. Sadly there was also an occasional element of awkwardness from the actors, especially in the more dramatic scenes, which infected the audience, leading to some embarrassed laughter often at inappropriate moments.

I know it’s a minor criticism undoubtedly more to do with budget than artistic merit but it would also have been nice to have seen the odd costume change…

On the whole however, this was a company making a really good stab at a very difficult piece in an innovative way, using minimal set, effective lighting and subtle sound effects. In all aspects of theatre it is easy to rely on the tried and tested and I am full of admiration for Abergavenny Theatre Group for sticking their collective necks out and getting their teeth into something new.