Bad puns, fab comedy! Or it is in the case of this Broadway hit making its British debut
I’ve always loved small-cast shows with everyone getting to switch roles. It’s a dead cert for comedy. So here, just five actors get to rotate characters, chameleon-like. And if I reveal that Sebastien Torkia plays not just hero(ine) and vampire prey Mina Westfeldt, but also vampire hunter Van Helsing, you’ll have more than half a clue that there’s a satisfactory abundance of gender-bending pansexuality too. To say Torkia – and most other cast members too – switch roles back and forth in detail, down to wigs and costumes, at high speed is to short-change them. They are shape-shifters, especially Dianne Pilkington, who seamlessly morphs between doctor and asylum resident.
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors comes to the UK trailing glory – and is still a multimedia phenomenon Stateside, where it has achieved immortality as an all-star podcast for the Broadway Podcast Network – thanks to its creators (both Jewish) Gordon Greenberg, who also directs, and Steve Rosen. It is of course a send up, but one that is faithful to its source, ensuring the storytelling is somewhat, er, plausible.
Charlie Stemp, who plays Jonathan Harker, the young lawyer who finds himself in Transylvania representing Dracula in real estate transactions, is right at the heart of the story. He is a small earnest figure, immaculately dressed in a neat suit with a bow tie and round glasses. As in Bram Stoker’s original story, he’s engaged to a young woman, Lucy Westfeldt (Safeena Ladha, making a feisty heroine) who accompanies him to Transylvania. Unsurprisingly this turns out to be a rash move, for James Daly’s salacious Dracula is clearly after her the moment she arrives. Love bites are inevitable…
Daly is a lovely mover, his allure much enhanced by his opulent satin outfits with frilled shirts beneath and figure-hugging breeches that set off his dashing leaps and bounds. He is hard to resist as he throws himself ardently at Lucy’s feet en route to her neck.
Tijana Bjelajac’s set – a library of dark, almost crimson wood, made more sinister by Ben Cracknell’s red and grey lighting and complete with windows and arches for lightning exits/entrances – sets off Tristan Raines’ extravagant costumes a treat. And Victoria Deiorio’s music only enhances the mood and ups the tension. Rest assured, the humour remains throughout, so while it won’t set your blood curdling, it will have you in stitches.
By Judi Herman
Photos by Matt Crockett
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors runs until Saturday 3 May. 7.30pm, 3pm (Sat & Sun only). From £35. Menier Chocolate Factory, London, SE1 1TE. draculacomedy.com
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