Vampirella by ANGELA CARTER
COUNTESS VAMPIRELLA: My demented and atrocious ancestors habitually sequestered themselves from the light of the sun; each one, man or woman, was a victim of the most terrible passion.... I scarcely dare speak its name. But love, true love, could free me from this treadmill, this dreadful wheel of destiny.
COUNT DRACULA: My daughter, the last of the line, through whom I now project a modest, posthumous existence, believes ... that she may be made whole by human.feeling. HERO: She is so beautiful she is pitiful.
This is a first play for radio by Angela Carter , novelist and poetess who has won the Somerset Maugham award and the John Llewellyn Rhys prize for her work, with Anna Massey as the Countess Vampirella and Elizabeth Ba'athory
David March as Count Dracula, Sawney Beane and Henri Blot Richard O'Callaghan as Hero Betty Hardy as Mrs Beane
Other parts played by DAVID GRAHAM and ELIZABETH LINDSAY Produced and directed by GLYN DEARMAN
Miss Carter's fantasia on Count Dracula's daughter was a fine and gamey adventure in words and noises ... the action is less important than the scenes of exotica and erotica which are slotted into the sound-space like brilliant short cassettes. Writers like Miss Carter are using our new freedom of expression, and 'freedom from categories, in an exciting way. Anna Massey gave a splendid performance as the most gentle of heavy-breathing predators.
(PETER PORTER: NEW STATESMAN)