Initial casting announced for UK premiere of DRACULA, A COMEDY OF TERRORS at Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory has announced initial casting for the UK premiere of Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, which plays at the venue from 8 March-3 May.

Greenberg directs James Daly (who reprises the role of Dracula from the Off-Broadway production), Safeena Ladha (The 39 Steps, UK tour/West End) as Lucy Westfeldt, Diane Pilkington (The Red Shoes, RSC) as Dr. Westfeldt, and Charlie Stemp (Kiss Me Kate, Barbican) as Jonathan Harker.

Full casting will be announced shortly.

Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors gives Bram Stoker’s horror classic a comic makeover in this lightning-fast gender-bending reimagining that features a Gen Z pansexual Count Dracula in the midst of an existential crisis. With a cast of five switching costumes and roles at the drop of a hat, this 90-minute freewheeling send-up plays with sexuality and gender norms in the spirit of comedy legends Charles Ludlam, Monty Python and Mel Brooks – and celebrates goth, camp, and the magic of live theatre itself.

In the treacherous mountains of Transylvania, Jonathan Harker, a meek English estate agent, takes a harrowing journey to meet a new and mysterious client, who happens to be the most terrifying(ly narcissistic) monster the world has ever known: Count Dracula! When the Count sets his sights on Harker’s fiancé, the brilliant young earth scientist Lucy Westfeldt, he meets his match for the first time – as well as a slew of other colorful characters including vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing, insect connoisseur Renfield and behavioral psychiatrist Wallace Westfeldt, whose British country estate doubles as a free-range mental asylum.

The production has set design by Tijana Bjelajac, costumes by Tristan Raines, lighting by Ben Cracknell, and sound by Yvonne Gilbert.

For more info on Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, please click here.