A bold National Youth Theatre staging of Tatty Hennessey’s Dracula blends gothic horror, dark humour and a modern twist in the midst of London’s current Dracula revival, writes DAVID TURNBULL
Dracula is currently undergoing something of a London theatrical renaissance.
Last October the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith staged Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s interpretation, which tells the story of the legendary vampire through the eyes of Mina Harker, one of the original novel’s main characters.
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo is currently taking the West End by storm, appearing in no fewer than 23 roles in Kip Williams’ one-woman adaptation at the Noël Coward Theatre in St Martin’s Lane.
No sooner will this finish its run than Sadler’s Wells Theatre in Islington will stage Joel Burke’s highly acclaimed Dracula ballet.
Nestled among this is the National Youth Theatre’s adaptation of Tatty Hennessey’s Dracula, which coincidentally boasts among its cast a young, up-and-coming actor called Christopher Lee as Doctor Seward.
Staged at their headquarters on Holloway Road, the production manages, with a set that is little more than a random collection of packing cases filled with Carpathian soil, to create quite a chilling atmosphere.
At times it is liberally drenched in theatrical blood.
It is a play of two halves, interlinked by the unseen corrupting influence of Dracula.
While his evil influence pervades the entire production, other than a fleeting glimpse in one of the early scenes depicting the wreck of the Demeter at Whitby, the legendary Count makes no physical appearance throughout the play.
The first half sticks to the familiar Victorian storyline, while playing around a little with some of the characters.
Doctor Seward (Christopher Lee) becomes Jonathan rather than Jack, while Harker becomes Jack rather than Jonathan.
Van Helsing is a female part, played by Sumah Ebele.
The telling of the story focuses on the relationship between Mina (Rhia Burston) and Lucy (Sasha Jagsi), and Lucy’s tragic descent into vampirism.
Ever-present are the trio of actresses Amy Young, Rachel Dowsett and Jo Bentley, who weave in and out of the story as Dracula’s brides, the nurses in the asylum where Renfield (Luka Welman) is incarcerated, and nuns at the monastery where the traumatised Harker (Mascuud Dahir) shows up after escaping Dracula’s castle.
The second half moves the action to the present day, centring on a nightclub frequented by predatory vampires descended from Dracula’s victims more than a century earlier.
The focus is on two sisters, Millie (Maya Coates) and Lorna (Louise Coggrave), one living and one undead, who come into possession of Harker’s handwritten journal.
A subplot concerns Noah (Nicky Dune), who is bitten at the club before being recruited by a pair of urban vampire hunters.
The climax blends past with present, depicting the simultaneous staking through the heart of both Lucy and Lorna, with a gruesome hint of beheadings to follow.
The production is a worthy addition to the current theatrical adaptations of Dracula, blending dark humour with a gothic atmosphere and some genuinely spine-tingling moments.
Running until 13 March 2026, it counts among its sponsors Hammer and the Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation. You can book here.
If you miss it, the same cast will be returning to the twilight world of the vampire in Jack Thorne’s adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s modern undead shocker Let The Right One In. The production will run at Underbelly Boulevard in Soho from 5 May 2026 to 23 May 2026.
