Tag Archives: Bram Stoker

DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS

★★★★

Menier Chocolate Factory

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DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS

Menier Chocolate Factory

★★★★

“the air is thick with mischief and the sense of fun that this insanely talented troupe bring to the stage is enough to win us over”

‘Transsexual Transylvaniaaa-a-a!’ comes to mind the moment James Daly’s lace-and-leather-clad, midriff-baring Dracula makes his flamboyant entrance onto the stage. But it’s a riff that’s half a century old. So the writers, Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, need something more saucy to dollop onto the old frank-n-furter. It’s safe to say, thankfully, that they’ve dished up the magic ingredients – hundreds and thousands of them in fact, sacrilegiously scattered all over Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece. It’s the theatrical equivalent of popping candy, that fizzles in your mouth and leaves you giggling with effervescent joy. Chuck in some camp, gender-swapping, costume-changing, character-bending humour; a touch of gore, and rapid-fire one-liners and you eventually arrive at the imperfect feast that is “Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors”. Faithful(ish) to Bram Stoker’s original, it still takes succulent chunks of the story’s flesh and regurgitates it dripping with frivolity. As the writers themselves have said of the novel: ‘anything that takes itself that seriously is a prime target for satire’.

As the houselights fade, we are plunged into a cacophony of darkness and noise, rather like entering a ghost train at a fairground. Tijana Bjelajac’s shadowy set reflects this kind of clubland-meets-circus atmosphere, while Tristan Raine’s costumes blend Victoriana with novelty, giving hints of steampunk. Clever use of props and puppets add to the magic, while the many costume changes are acrobatic feats – one in particular drawing its own round of applause. But the main attraction is the juggling act in which the cast of five play a whole horde of madcap characters.

Little time is spent in Transylvania itself. Jonathan Harker (a wonderfully goofy and uptight Charlie Stemp) rocks up at Dracula’s castle to clinch a lucrative property deal with the count. James Daly’s Dracula is the archetypal image of the narcissistic Rock Star – money and sex on tap but still wanting more. The sexual tension between him and Harker is palpable, until Dracula diverts his bloodthirsty attentions onto Harker’s fiancé, Lucy. By now we are back in Whitby, not exactly the kind of seaside town you have in mind for a queer pilgrimage. Dracula meets his match with the array of kooky individuals he comes up against. Safeena Ladha is headstrong and assertive as Lucy. Her rather downtrodden sister, Mina, is played by Sebastien Torkia, complete with ginger wig and ruffled ballgowns. Dianne Pilkington is their father, Dr. Westfield, who has turned their house into a live-in retreat for society’s oddballs (all played with a vaudevillian hilarity by them all).

You know the story, and how it ends. It’s the treatment that stands out. Co-writer Greenberg also directs, his hand visibly cracking the whip to keep the pace as frenetic as the lunacy. After the initial set-up, however, the humour is relatively conventional. More panto than subversive. The melodrama is kicked to the rafters even if some of the jokes don’t aim quite so high. But the air is thick with mischief and the sense of fun that this insanely talented troupe bring to the stage is enough to win us over. It is all very silly and chaotic, but delivered with precision and comic timing you could die for. But it doesn’t quite draw blood. It is more like a love-bite than a sharp set of fangs puncturing our skin. Then again – that’s probably a good thing. Definitely worth staking out.



DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS

Menier Chocolate Factory

Reviewed on 18th March 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Matt Crockett

 

 


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE PRODUCERS | ★★★★★ | December 2024
THE CABINET MINISTER | ★★★★ | September 2024
CLOSE UP – THE TWIGGY MUSICAL | ★★★ | September 2023
THE THIRD MAN | ★★★ | June 2023
THE SEX PARTY | ★★★★ | November 2022
LEGACY | ★★★★★ | March 2022
HABEAS CORPUS | ★★★ | December 2021
BRIAN AND ROGER | ★★★★★ | November 2021

 

 

DRACULA

DRACULA

DRACULA

Dracula

Dracula

★★★

Richmond Theatre

Reviews, , , , , , ,

Dracula

Dracula

Richmond Theatre

Reviewed – 27th March 2022

★★★

 

“The show moves at a good pace, and it’s steeped in moody sound and stage effects”

 

Actor James Gaddas doesn’t lack ambition. It’s not every established actor who would go to the trouble of adapting Bram Stoker’s sprawling novel Dracula, and turn it into a one man show. And yet Stoker’s nineteenth century horror story is eminently stageworthy. Dracula is not just a horror film classic. Stoker, was, after all, a successful theatre manager as well as an author. His writing is steeped in theatricality, and Dracula is no exception. The story is packed with all sorts of unforgettable theatrical moments, quite apart from the memorable characters. Gaddas’ adaptation of Dracula, assisted by director Pip Minnithorpe, with set and costume design by Lee Ward, and illusion designer John Bulleid, is a meticulous homage to Stoker’s classic. And it’s somehow appropriate that this tour should begin at the beautifully restored RIchmond Theatre, which opened the same year that Dracula was published. Bram Stoker would approve.

That said, there is also the sense that Gaddas doesn’t quite manage to tame his material, and wrangle it into one man show size. While Gaddas is shrewd enough to retain large amounts of the original text while taking on a variety of roles, he doesn’t quite trust Stoker’s story enough. Gaddas shows great versatility in playing male and female roles —ranging from American to Romanian — alive, dead, and undead. He has an engaging stage presence, and a loyal following among his fans. But he is not content to stop there. Gaddas’ adaptation of Dracula becomes more than just a retelling of a nineteenth epistolary novel. He adds on the story of an actor — himself — who is hired to host a twenty first century documentary about vampires. It’s the kind of television show that promises ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night. Things get out of hand as Gaddas becomes gets too involved with his job. He gets obsessed with a mysterious journal that hints at more than Stoker’s original story. That Professor Van Helsing in Stoker’s novel may not have managed to destroy the vampire Count after all. Gaddas’ obsession with discovering the truth in the legend brings him to the brink of insanity — not unlike the character Renfield in the original Dracula. This embellishment to the original tale does allow Gaddas to bring it firmly into the twenty first century, and add some charming, self-deprecatory laugh lines. But the add on also detracts from the horror of Stoker’s novel. Which, for Dracula, is sort of the point.

Nevertheless, this version of Dracula remains a good evening’s entertainment. The show moves at a good pace, and it’s steeped in moody sound and stage effects. The set design is almost too cluttered — more suited to an incident room in a television police drama series. It does allow for the set designer and illusion designer to spring a few shock moments on the audience as the show proceeds however. Gaddas himself holds the attention whether he’s chilling your blood as a vampire, or wondering why, as an actor immersed in his research, his wife has taken to sleeping in the spare bedroom. This Dracula is a different take on horror, and is well suited to an actor of Gaddas’ range. It is less frightening than sitting at home alone, reading Bram Stoker’s novel, but for family audiences, that can only be a good thing.

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

 

Dracula

Richmond Theatre

 

Recently reviewed by Dominica:
The Forest | ★★★ | Hampstead Theatre | February 2022
When We Dead Awaken | ★★★★ | The Coronet Theatre | March 2022
Legacy | ★★★★★ | Menier Chocolate Factory | March 2022
Cock | ★★★ | Ambassadors Theatre | March 2022
Triffids! | ★★★★★ | Arts Depot | March 2022

 

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