This is not your grandmother’s Dracula, which may be immediately obvious when you walk into the theatre to the sounds of a Queen song. No, instead this Dracula gives you a whole new way of looking at the two century old Romanian immigrant, and makes sure it’s as hilariously irreverent as possible.
Dracula is an enchantingly ridiculous show, filled with quick changes and dance breaks.
Let Them Call it Mischief theatre refuses to take Dracula seriously, and their interpretation makes it so much fun to do so. Was Jonathan Harker really a loving husband, or a lecherous cad? Did Mina and Lucy really only care about finding and caring for their man, or were they really into cricket? Was the bloodsucking, murderous Count honestly such a bad guy, or was he just misunderstood? And really, wouldn’t the whole thing be better with a rapid succession of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sound of Music, Donald Trump, and Dirty Dancing quotes? (One of these things is not like the other, but they’re all startlingly well integrated.)
Dracula is an enchantingly ridiculous show, filled with quick changes and dance breaks. The five person cast are silly and enthusiastic, with fantastic chemistry and admirable skill at switching character in the drop of a hat, particularly Quincey Morris / Van Helsing / Renfield’s Graham Elwell. The blatantly camp nature of the performance makes up for the most part for their issues in execution, like jokes that are stepped on or come across a little flat. The overall performance does seem to struggle a bit from trying to fit too much in- while the story of Dracula doesn’t miss much from this only hour long abbreviation, the actors rush through some moments that could have done better with the aid of a bit of tension. But for the most part, the cast charms their way through a inventive and fun show, and leaves their audience both very entertained and rooting for the titular vampire.
