By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Monday 9 February, opens 17 February and runs through 30 May 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (no interval)

Erivo (film Wicked) delivers an extraordinarily committed performance in this 20,000-word monologue of a 1-woman Dracula.

• Read on for reasons including how this is an impressive spectacle of her acting ability that will divide theatre purists who prefer fewer cameras on our stages

We know its length because adapter/director Kip Williams (who was behind the similar take on The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Theatre Royal Haymarket) appears onstage before this 2nd preview to explain it is still being worked on and our ‘response to it will be baked into the DNA of the show’.

Erivo stops several minutes after starting tonight’s show, there’s a short break where the lights go up and then she goes again from the top and it’s a feat of memory and timing that must be so difficult to get right.

We normally like to watch shows from the stalls close to the stage but tonight are in the Royal Circle (near Williams) because our original preview performance was cancelled and we think non-stalls is a better way to best appreciate this production.

Erivo is followed onstage by several camera operators and a stage manager presenting props to its star and enabling quick costume changes but it’s the giant screen on the back wall where your eyes should focus if you want the best experience of this Dracula.

Erivo plays all 23 characters in this production and many of them appear onscreen only in pre-filmed segments with a live Erivo magically inserted into the action of what we’re seeing onscreen.

Occasionally Erivo mistakenly talks at the same time as the filmed characters she is performing with or we catch a glimpse of a prompter carrying the show’s script on the screen but these are issues which can be smoothed out ahead of press night.

Sometimes Erivo is appearing live with as many as 4 different characters she is portraying on the screen and occasionally there is intentional audience laughter at some of the different characteristics the same actress is portraying but in different garb.

It’s a dazzling display of technical brilliance and theatrical competence but it’s far from the quality we most like about this medium which is being up close and personal with a cast in whose eyes we can see as we share the empathy generated by the material we’re all witnessing unravelling before us.

Introducing cameras and screens onstage continues to distance us from the heart of the story and we should explain that this is a faithful retelling of the tale of lawyer Jonathan Harker’s trip to Transylvania to complete a property deal with the titular vampire who flees to England to pursue the legal eagle’s love, Mina.

Erivo won our 2024 Best TV/Film Actress monsta for Wicked and recently starred in its sequel which was our 2025 Best Film and this is an impressive spectacle showcasing her acting ability that will once again divide theatre purists, some preferring fewer cameras and screens on our stages.

It does beg the question: just because you can pull off such a technical feat, should you?

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Dracula Tickets
• Have you seen Cynthia Erivo before and what did you think of her? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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