For an actor ofCynthia Erivo's calibre, taking on a one-woman adaptation of Dracula in London is perhaps the ultimate test of endurance. However, the second preview of this ambitious production delivered an entirely unscripted moment of drama.
One theatre-goer shared her experience after watching the play and admitted her surprise when Erivo stopped her performance midway and decided to do a do-over. According to the woman, it was 'kind of crazy' to witness what Erivo did.
The incident first came to light through aTikTok postfrom user @GraceGoesToTheTheatre, who witnessed the rare event firsthand. About 10 minutes into the performance, after a few noticeable line slips, Erivo reportedly raised her hand and addressed the room.
She said, 'Stop, let's stop,' before taking a deep breath and suggesting, 'Let's do it again from the top.' The audience reportedly remained stunned and silent as the house lights rose and the actress exited the stage to take a break.
Many were surprised because the show stopped, not due to a technical failure. The props were working. It was a deliberate choice of the performer, probably to uphold her standards. 'Like, how do you mentally reset and start all over again knowing that you were not giving the performance or things were not going the way that you wanted them to go?' Grace asked. 'After about ten minutes, they make an announcement, um, and we restart.'
Grace, a huge theatre fan, admitted that Erivo's one-woman show was 'ambitious' and 'technically challenging'.The 'Wicked' starhas to portray different characters with different accents the whole time, so she somewhat understood the performer.
She acknowledged that when things were 'settled', Erivo's performance improved. It was reportedly 'very impressive, [and] very powerful'. Nevertheless, the unexpected show stop would be forever unforgettable for her. 'I'm absolutely gonna be thinking about this kind of crazy preview performance and the weirdest show stop I've ever experienced,' Grace concluded.
Theatre story time about the crazy show stop and total restart at last night’s preview of Dracula with Cynthia Erivo!#cynthiaerivo#londontheatre#westend#dracula#livetheatre
Whilst Grace was eventually satisfied with Erivo's performance despite the hiccups, many were not as forgiving. Several felt that Erivo failed to deliver the performance they expected from her in playing 23 characters live on stage. Some claimed that they never felt the emotions because she was reading teleprompters.
'Did I just pay £135 to watch Cynthia Erivo read off a teleprompter?' one wrote. Another attendee agreed, writing, 'The show was rubbish. After arguing with the ticket office I got a refund.'
Source: International Business Times UK
