Bloody brilliant or toothless? Cynthia Erivo's Dracula - reviews roundup

Cynthia Erivo plays Dracula — and every other character — in Kip Williams' one‑person reinvention. Williams has been called a "Midas‑touched spinner of old stories to new" for earlier work, but responses to this staging are divided between admiration for Erivo's versatility and frustration with the production's choices.

The staging leans heavily on cameras and screens. A shallow rake in the stalls can make Marg Horwell's scenic design hard to read, so much of the action is watched on a large overhead screen; nonetheless the video effects and onstage camera operators help create a hallucinatory audio‑visual experience, with moments such as a flying vampire and Dracula crawling down a wall.

Erivo shifts wigs, costumes and vocal registers to inhabit Mina, Lucy, Dr Seward, Van Helsing and others, and the blending of live and recorded performance is sometimes indistinguishable.

cynthia erivo, dracula, kip williams, one-person, marg horwell, scenic design, cameras, screens, video effects, van helsing