Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors West End Reviews

Greenberg’s direction pays homage to traditional stagecraft in the silliest of ways. Mist and fog come from spray cans, while the actors meticulously scramble to tell their story with physical props and sound cues. Ironically, it’s a refreshing, ...

Greenberg’s direction pays homage to traditional stagecraft in the silliest of ways. Mist and fog come from spray cans, while the actors meticulously scramble to tell their story with physical props and sound cues. Ironically, it’s a refreshing, utterly delightful approach that amps up a refined, in-your-face brand of humour. While the script is rude and unashamed, it manages to remain exceptionally sanitised - think sophisticated adult panto without the callbacks to the audience.

The five-strong cast juggle multiple roles with particularly fast work by Dianne Pilkington as various characters including Lucy’s father. The performances are superb all round, full of fun and mischief, but the low-hanging jokes of the script shor...

The five-strong cast juggle multiple roles with particularly fast work by Dianne Pilkington as various characters including Lucy’s father. 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.

Exaggerated parody is a Marmite genre. You either love it or hate it, but it can take only a minor miscalibration in tone or pitch for affection to turn to abhorrence. I found Titanique delightful but many close to me loathed it. I’m deeply irritat...

Exaggerated parody is a Marmite genre. You either love it or hate it, but it can take only a minor miscalibration in tone or pitch for affection to turn to abhorrence. I found Titanique delightful but many close to me loathed it. I’m deeply irritated by the way Dracula insulates itself against criticism by telling us how slapdash it’s going to be (“you’ll be horrified – one way or another!”). But mostly I was just unamused and bored.

Some of the script seems to have been tweaked to appeal to British audiences. That said, I’m not sure a joke about Janet Street-Porter’s teeth means an awful lot to anyone under pension age. Tijana Bjelajac’s set design has a touch of Rocky Hor...

Some of the script seems to have been tweaked to appeal to British audiences. That said, I’m not sure a joke about Janet Street-Porter’s teeth means an awful lot to anyone under pension age. Tijana Bjelajac’s set design has a touch of Rocky Horror Gothic, Ben Cracknell’s lighting is all tongue-in-cheek Sturm und Drang, and Yvonne Gilbert’s sound design adds cheeky comic effects. Have a strong drink or two before you go and abandon yourself to the sheer silliness of it all.

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors is affable enough and probably a decent shout to take your grandparents to: it’s old fashioned, not offensive. But why bother going to the effort of bringing it over from New York? Stoker’s Count famously caused a sti...

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors is affable enough and probably a decent shout to take your grandparents to: it’s old fashioned, not offensive. But why bother going to the effort of bringing it over from New York? Stoker’s Count famously caused a stir when he came to London; Greenberg and Rosen’s elicits a weak smile at best.