Fabulously sophisticated or theatrical gimmickry?

Noel Coward Theatre

The much anticipated collaboration of superstar actor Cynthia Erivo and avant garde theatre director Kip Williams received mixed reviews. Some critics thought it was a ‘magic’ (Telegraph), ‘manifestation of desire within us all’ (Standard), while others found ‘there is neither chill nor heat here’ (Guardian) and ‘not enough substance’ (BroadwayWorld). For some, the acting on stage and screen was ‘ingeniously interlaced’ (Times) and ‘fabulously sophisticated’ (Financial Times), but others described this as ‘theatrical gimmickry’ (WhatsOnStage) and ‘Overly elaborate’ (Independent). The star, who played all 23 parts on stage and on screen, was ‘burningly intense’ (Time Out) and a ‘one–woman tour de force’ (Mail).

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

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis summed up the quality Cynthia Evrio brought to the production : ‘Shaven-headed, preternaturally physically ripped and androgynous, her expressive hands lengthened into talons by nail extensions, the Wicked star juggles costumes and accents, interacting with onscreen versions of herself in a hectic 120-minute canter through the Gothic tale. Her performance triumphantly walks a knife edge between virtuosity and absurdity.’ He explained that ‘Williams accentuates the Victorian novel’s barely-repressed queer subtext and general air of heavy-breathing lasciviousness’ and that he ‘foregrounds the idea that Dracula is not an external monster but a manifestation of desire within us all.’

The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming called it a ‘fabulously sophisticated cine-theatre adaptation’. She was bowled over by the star: ‘It’s an outstanding performance: Erivo, a tiny, mercurial figure, ricochets between 23 characters…a switch of wig, a shift in stance, a lacy skirt or a pair of spectacles, and suddenly she’s someone else’. She was also impressed by the production: ‘It’s clever, technically. But it’s also an ingenious contemporary response to the themes of death, desire, transgression and identity running through the novel, and to prejudiced attitudes to outsiders.’ Unfortunately: ‘As the plot rumbles on, the text itself becomes a drag and the show begins to feel overlong.’

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish was almost over-the-top in his enthusiasm: ‘It’s feats of stamina like this that keep British theatre un-dead.’ He gave more detail: ‘Over almost two hours, Erivo – sporting elongated nails and with a formidable muscular athleticism – shape-shifts and gender-flips, with costumes and wigs changed swiftly by stagehands. But also she can talk to, and is superimposed beside, a raft of other pre-recorded characters on screen – as the nominal villain steals with rapacity from Transylvania to Yorkshire. Magic.’

Clive Davis of The Times felt a rush of blood: ‘Now that’s what I call event theatre. Watching Cynthia Erivo in this solo rendition of Bram Stoker’s novel is akin to seeing an ice skater going for gold in the Winter Olympics. Can she pull off one triple Lutz after another without taking a tumble? (…) Erivo fumbled a few lines but otherwise gave a commanding display in a Kip Williams production that is part theatre, part cinema.’ He reacted more positively to the cinema content than many of the reviewers below: ‘recorded videos … are ingeniously interlaced with the live action.’

Brooke Ivey Johnson for The Metro stated: ‘The constant doubling — a live body here, a filmed apparition there — reinforces that sense of fragmentation, as though we are witnessing a mind at war with itself. And with Erivo – openly queer and fluid in her masculinity and femininity – inhabiting every role, the novel’s homoerotic undertones surface with a clarity that feels both modern and radical.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

‘is her West End return a show to die for? Not quite’ intoned Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre. Part of her reaction  related to the cine elements: ‘The camerawork is as slick as we have come to expect from Williams’ but ‘Close-up shots of fangs and Erivo’s trademark talons scraping a cut neck aren’t enough to get the blood pumping, however well they’ve been framed. The balance seems to be off between the live work on stage, and the screens that dwarf Erivo.’ She also worried that ‘in a production that demands so much of its performer, you can’t shake the feeling it’s about to run away from her.’

Time Out‘s Andrzej Lukowski felt that ‘Erivo is tiny and the screen is massive, and the pre-recorded stuff is so dominant – as many as four gigantic versions of her on screen versions of her – that it overshadows the technically impressive work happening on stage.’ As the evening progressed: ‘Not only does it become quite a lot like watching a weird pre-recorded film of Dracula, but there’s just too much plot compressed into too little space.’ But he did like the star: ‘Erivo is a burningly intense performer who nonetheless has some fun casting sarcastic looks or exaggerated doe eyes at the camera. Some of her characters verge on stereotypes, but her stylish, implicitly African Count is fascinating. And it’s worth saying that while Erivo has a diminutive stature, her otherworldly looks look great blown up on a giant screen – she’s a movie star!’

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton’s blood boiled rather curdled: ‘How wonderful it would have been to see her play Dracula. Or his nemesis, Van Helsing. Or even his prey, Mina. How brilliant it might have been to watch her return to the stage after her world-conquering performance as Elphaba in Wicked in a real play. Instead, she is forced to attempt to lend some bite to Kip Williams’ meandering – and excessively long – adaptation of Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel, which sacrifices her undoubted talent on the altar of superficially exciting theatrical gimmickry.’

Aliya Al-Hassan of BroadwayWorld said it had ‘a lot of style, but not enough substance’. She expanded: ”The production is a technical feat, but is so caught up in its own cleverness that it forgets one of the most intrinsic appeals of theatre; to connect an actor to an audience through their live presence on stage. Not on a screen.’ She did admire the star: ‘Erivo shows remarkable focus and commitment to the material, switching between characters with ease. Even with some curious creative choices, such as Van Helsing’s Gandalf-like wig and Dracula speaking with a Nigerian accent, she seems to carry it off.’

For The Mail‘s Patrick Marmion, Cynthia Erivo was ‘quite simply wicked all the way through this one–woman tour de force. Wicked meaning good. Wicked meaning exciting. And wicked meaning eerily creepy.’ He said: ‘this is a mind–bogglingly complex show, which goes beyond the kitchen sink in its attempts to create an audio–visual hallucination. Yet what’s missing is old–fashioned suspense. We all know, roughly speaking, what’s coming.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar found it toothless: ‘the story is narrated by Erivo, with only snippets in dialogue, which gives the sense of an audiobook accompanied by screen illustrations. It comprises mostly diary entries from journals and preserves the epistolary form of the book. Why, when it serves no dramatic purpose other than to remind us of the story’s original form?’ Of Erivo, she commented: ‘despite the speed, the atmosphere stays sedate, with none of the fever required, and no peril whatsoever. And characters seem so simplistic that they verge on the comical. Most ludicrous of all is vampire-slayer, Van Helsing, who looks like a gothic version of Gandalf with long white locks and weird goatee. Erivo’s feat of narration also seems to distract her from the actual acting, too neutral in her physical and facial expressions.’ Like Dracula’s victims, she was left cold: ‘The production seeks to focus on the battle between fear and desire in the story but there is neither chill nor heat here.’

The i’s Fiona Mountford found it increasingly ‘bewildering’. She reported: ‘Williams’ adaptation is not an easy one; there are multiple changes of narrator and place to navigate and Erivo speaks at an unwaveringly fast pace for the 110-minute duration of the interval-free production. Goodness knows what this does to her, but for us spectators it is exhausting. I craved a change of tempo, quieter sections to counterbalance the flurry.’ She suggested: ‘If someone were to write a song about (Erivo’s) experience here, “Defying Technology” might be an apposite title.’

The Independent‘s Alice Saville put a stake through its heart, calling it ‘an overly elaborate production that’s not satisfying either as a play or as a film’.

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe asked a rhetorical question: ‘What could possibly go wrong? Sadly, the answer is: almost everything. There are flickers of what makes all the elements here great: flashes of wit and insight, of an enthralling interaction between the art forms and aesthetics of theatre and cinema. But there’s little here of the layered interplay between real and illusory, between established classic and impishly irreverent, technophile modernity, or of that most 21st-century of preoccupations – the fracturing, remodelling and performing of identity – which were the hallmarks of those other Williams productions. Even Marg Horwell’s designs – previously so overwhelmingly, ravishingly rich – are more muted here. And Erivo seems ill at ease with the material.’ She summed up: ‘I wouldn’t go so far as to say it sucks, but it certainly doesn’t bite’.

Critics’ Average Rating 3.2⭑

Value Rating 14 (Value Rating is the Average Critics’ Rating divided by the most common ticket price, in this case £225)

You can see Dracula at the Noel Coward theatre until 30 May 2026. Buy tickets directly from draculawestend.com

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