PARK THEATRE – UNTIL 17th JANUARY 2026
REVIEWED BY JACKIE THORNTON
5*****
Artistic director of the Park Theatre Jez Bond wanted to do something completely different for Christmas and has succeeded spectacularly with the triumph that is Dracapella.
Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel has been endlessly adapted for stage and screen but here it finds fresh life (and death), wit and chaotic silliness in a genre-bending show which has its roots in pantomime but delights us with joke after joke, 80s power ballads galore and a rather touching love story. Jez Bond directs and has co-written this sharp and pacey rendition with Dan Patterson, perhaps best known for delighting TV audiences for decades with Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Mock The Week. It’s perhaps no surprise that Dracapella is something of a masterclass in joke telling: puns, word play, topical gags with the wonderful cast ragging on the audience to keep up! Laughter and groans are elicited in equal measure.
Staging is very much in the Victorian gothic tradition with mirth acutely extracted from the notion of the pale, helpless female in need of rescuing. Lorna Want is magnificent as Mina, the object of Count Dracula’s affection, and is paired well with Stephen Ashfield as her husband Harker whose quest to Transylvania puts them all in grave peril in the first place. Both Ashfield and Want have won Olivier Awards and it’s easy to see why as their pitch perfect vocals deliver with demanding Queen and Bonnie Tyler numbers. Everyone gets their moment to shine and award winning comedian Ciaran Dowd proves a master of physical comedy as both Sinister and Van Helsing while Keala Settle is hilarious as Lucy and dazzles with her compelling singing voice. Monique Ashe-Palmer’s Pustula is another comic delight as well as putting in a flawless vocal performance and Philip Pope takes on Holmwood and Seward, distinguishing these characters with charming affectations. Not forgetting Count Dracula himself, who Ako Mitchell makes more vulnerable and hapless than horrifying, adopting playful gestures that had the audience in stitches. And as if that wasn’t enough entertainment, the whole show is performed completely acapella, led by UK Beatbox Champion Alexander Belagarion Hackett (ABH Beatbox), whose skill and stamina is undeniable.
A classic vampire tale, wicked punning, 80s power ballads, absurd pantomime, flawless acapella musicality: what’s not to love? An impeccable evening’s entertainment.