Vampire musical lacks bite

Menier chocolate factory Theatre

Originally seen off-Broadway, Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen is given its English premiere. James Daly, who originated the role of Dracula back in New York, is joined by Charlie Stemp, Dianne Pilkington, Safeena Ladha, and Sebastien Torkia. The cast were praised but while WhatsOnStage enjoyed their ‘pleasure at the sheer preposterousness of it all’, The Standard detected ‘you feel they’d all rather be elsewhere’. Only one review scored four stars but many quite liked its ‘batty’ humour. It seems you’ll probably enjoy it if you like silly jokes, but the more critical reviews suggested even those could have more bite.  Titanique seems to be the benchmark.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ✭✭✭✭

Let’s start with the good news. Cindy Marcolina of BroadwayWorld  loved it: ‘This is the lovechild of Mel Brooks and Monty Python, a side-splitting, rib-tickling, neck-biting, hysterically racy show….You’ll be screaming with laughter.’

3 stars ✭✭✭

Sarah Crompton at  WhatsOnStage commented, ‘A lot of the humour arises from the cast’s sheer glee at their lightning-quick changes of costume and character, their pleasure at the sheer preposterousness of it all. Their timing is excellent, their delivery ironic. It’s all very silly, you might even say totally batty. But gently enjoyable all the same.’

‘Presiding over the whole affair is James Daly’s wickedly hot, pansexual vampire,’ said Sarah Hemming in The Financial Times. ‘Charlie Stemp brings sharp timing to the naive Jonathan Harker’ ‘Battiest of all is Dianne Pilkington’s double turn as both stuffy Dr Westfeldt (the girls’ father) and one of his eccentric patients, which at one point obliges Pilkington to hurl herself out of a window and turn up dressed as the other character almost instantly — deservedly drawing a round of applause.’

The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar pronounced: ‘The performances are superb all round, full of fun and mischief, but the low-hanging jokes of the script short-change the actors’ talents. This comedy needs sharper fangs.’

The show got it in the neck from a few critics but The Times’ Clive Davis conceded, ‘If you abandon yourself to the Mel Brooks-style mood of excess, you can still have a jolly time .’

Matt Wolf for LondonTheatre made a similar point, adding an incentive: ‘Resist its go-for-broke loopiness, and the play, performed without an interval, may seem a long sit. But those who go along for the ride will encounter the best scene of sex in a horse-drawn carriage you are likely ever to see.’

2 stars ✭✭

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis got his fangs out: ‘Toothless, bloodless and lacking in bite, this arch spoof of Bram Stoker’s vampire tale is not nearly funny enough…This sort of stuff requires absolute conviction in order to land properly, and it doesn’t get it here. Though there’s some fun to be had from the cleverer bits of business and the grandstanding hamming of the talented cast, you feel they’d all rather be elsewhere.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.0✭

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors can be seen at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 5 April 2025. Click here to buy direct from the  theatre 

If you’ve seen Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors at The Menier, please add your review and rating below