DRACULA to Swoop into Riverside Theatre Next Month

Sharpen your fangs, as the multi-award winning theatre company shake & stir theatre co are back with the promise - there will be blood! Bram Stoker's gothic masterpiece Dracula swoops the country and will visit Riverside Theatres from 1st to 4th April for a strictly limited season.

Created and adapted by one of Australia's leading contemporary theatre companies, this critically acclaimed adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 horror-classic is every bit as tortured and charismatic as the novel. The 2015 premiere season of the work garnered stellar five-star reviews and attracted five Matilda Awards nominations including Best Mainstage Production.

Dracula tells the story of young lawyer Jonathan Harker as he visits Castle Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains. Alone and trapped within the castle walls, Jonathan discovers that his host Dracula wants more than just his presence at the dinner table; he might also be the main course. Leaving Jonathan for dead and his castle behind, Dracula travels to London on a quest for seduction, true love and above all blood.

Directed by the award-winning Michael Futcher and adapted by shake & stir's Artistic Directors Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij, this twisted tale features a stellar cast including fellow Artistic Director Ross Balbuziente, Michael Wahr (Othello, Hamlet), Adele Querol (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) and David Whitney (My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, 1984, Rock of Ages).

"Vampire fiction just won't die - you could say it is un-dead," said Co-Adaptor Nick Skubij. "Enjoying a major resurrection with the wildly popular Twilight films, televsion series True Blood, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries, there is no doubt that audiences are as intrigued today as they were in the 19th century. We look forward to plunging into the darkest recesses of human imagination to deliver a good dose of ultra-theatricality across the country - mind-boggling, head-twisting, blood-spurting moments and all."

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. Tour supported by The Playing Queensland Fund and arTour, initiatives of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

For tickets and more information, visit www.riversideparramatta.com.au.