Dracula – A Comedy of Terrors

Dracula – A Comedy of Terrors
Menier Chocolate Factory until the 5th of April

Dracula has been stalking our stages and screens for more than a century, sometimes romantic, sometimes terrifying, and occasionally just plain silly. Dracula – A Comedy of Terrors landed firmly in the latter category, and unapologetically so. It brought a gleeful, camp spin on Bram Stoker’s classic, and those lucky enough to catch it at the Menier Chocolate Factory were treated to something gloriously daft.

Transferred from its off-Broadway run, the show starred James Daly as a swaggering, pansexual Dracula, whose gothic brooding was replaced by bare-chested flamboyance and cheeky winks to the audience. Think RuPaul meets Mel Brooks, with a dash of Monty Python thrown in for good measure.

It stuck loosely to the bones of the original tale, Jonathan Harker heading to Castle Dracula, chaos ensuing, but everything here was played entirely for laughs. The small cast took on multiple roles at breakneck speed, running behind the scenery to reappear seconds later in entirely different wigs and accents. Diane Pilkington was especially fun to watch, switching from Renfield to doctor and back again with impeccable comic timing. Those costume changes alone drew some of the night’s biggest laughs.

Not every gag landed, about half hit the mark, but the overall energy of the show made up for it. A few UK-specific updates had mixed results (a Janet Street-Porter reference felt like a relic from the 90s), but there were also moments of real comic brilliance, especially from Charlie Stemp. Known for his musical theatre chops, here he got to show off his comedic instincts and even squeezed in a moment of tap-dancing Van Helsing.

The play served as a reminder that Dracula is endlessly reinventable, from Nosferatu to Twilight to Dance of the Vampires (which tried and failed to make vampires sing). While this wasn’t a musical, it certainly came with a knowing wink to the genre’s past attempts.

The run may be over, but Dracula – A Comedy of Terrors left audiences grinning. It didn’t aim for subtlety, but it didn’t need to. For anyone who enjoys high-energy, fast-paced farce with a gothic twist, it was a welcome bit of nonsense—and one that will hopefully return to the stage before too long.

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