Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory
AnxiousTheatregoer- May 2
- 3 min read
An immersive bite-sized, spark notes version of Bram Stoker’s classic if it was told by your cool queer English teacher.
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*
My Review:
It’s an honour to continue this season of shockingly good horror comedies on the West End with this snappy Broadway transfer.
This was my first time at the Menier, an intimate theatre with a grand history of showcasing the best of the best. This can be seen on the walls of the bar as you enter into a space that requires a few small steps both at its entrance and into the theatre.
As you step into the theatre, the rows of bench seats are reasonably spaced and you are met with blasting rave music reminiscent of the Ministry of Sound’s best of Europop circa 2010 in addition to neon red bat wings framing the stage combined with spotlights dancing through the audience in blues and purples you feel you get the vibe of exactly what you’re in for - a work that doesn’t take itself seriously. I was initially worried that the usage of the spotlights would impact our ability to see the stage if their use was constant, but was grateful to find this wasn’t the case. Attending this performance alongside me was another member of our team, Liz, who noted that the level of the music before the show started was noticeably louder than other productions she has recently attended that have started with the same pre-show party atmosphere. We’d like to note that this may be distracting or distressing to those sensitive to loud noises.
The introduction brilliantly spells out to the audience that this is a condensed version of Dracula, an hour and a half of the classic gothic tale with a splash of modern retelling.
This was the first production in a while I caught that did not have the need for onstage microphones due to the limited space of the stage. At moments, this was reflected in the sound quality, but the projection of this talented cast showed that this wasn’t missed.
As the story progresses it effortlessly hits each beat of the story very well. Its writing and delivery brilliantly blends the most important parts of the original story with jokes about gym bros, gender-based assumptions and vegan diets.
James Daly is a riot as the dramatic Dracula! An amazing hot-blooded take on history's most known vampire. A retelling of this calibre would be nothing without its Jonathan Harker, and my god does Charlie Stemp deliver in this role. From the first line, we see our familiar doomed protagonist embodied brilliantly and immediately hitting us with zingers that flip the spooky set up of the opening diary entry on its head. Safeena Ladha is stunning as Mina and Others with beautiful comedic timing and a phenomenal stage presence. Dianne Pilkington performs what may be the quickest character change I've ever heard of as Dr Westfelt and Renfield. Both characters are show-stoppingly brilliant! Sebastien Torkia shines as Mina and Van Hesling, bringing an amazing twist to the last role. My Dutch show companion would like me to note that she couldn’t move past the Germanisation of the role and would be happy to provide nationality-based digs at her own culture for other adaptations. She’d like to add that she understands the shift into this direction, but Van Helsing being one of the most recognisable Dutch characters in literature, would’ve done well as a girlboss.
I won’t be going into any further plot details within this review for two reasons:
If you are unfamiliar with the tale of Dracula, it is worth consuming in almost any form of media you can get your hands on.
There are jokes in this that absolutely deserve to be reacted to blind. It is hilarious, and even describing the atmosphere of the room as they played out would not do it justice.
This show is well worth an afternoon or evening out. I personally can’t wait to see if this stays around the West End because it is a hit.
Content Warnings:
The show has 3 signs clearly displaying the content warnings around the entrance, foyer and as you enter the auditorium, which were as follows:
Strobe Lighting
Haze
Loud and Sudden Noises
Strong Language
Blood
Comedic Horror
Gore
The signs around the theatre do a fantastic job of summarising the content that I only have one addition that I felt may be of importance to note, which is as follows:
Hypnosis/Possession leading to coerced actions
Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope this review has proved interesting and helpful for you :)
- AnxiousTheatregoer
