This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub: https://www.thereviewshub.com/dracapella-park-theatre-london/

There are puns galore, and a host of power ballads for good measure, as this rollicking, biting take on Stoker’s Dracula finds an unlikely winning combination blending a capella songs with gothic ghoulish comedy.

Dracapella takes the nucleus of the Dracula story and turns it into something much funnier and much more musical. The core of the text, however, remains. Jonathan Harker arrives at Count Dracula’s sinister home to help complete a property purchase, where his wife Mina becomes a target for the ancient vampire looking to reignite with his long-dead lover. The piece flip-flops between Transylvania, the Count’s home, and Whitby, where Mina is staying with friend Lucy, as Dracula prepares to strike. Penned by Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond and Whose Line Is It Anyway’s Dan Patterson, it quickly becomes a joke-filled slapstick farce which sends up, affectionately, Stoker’s original story.

Stephen Ashfield’s goofy Harker stumbles through the story, desperate to save his beloved wife. Ashfield’s quick-witted portrayal of the dim-witted Harker is a neat touch, and Ashfield plays this effectively, not, as with the rest of the play, taking the character too seriously.

This is also seen through Ako Mitchell’s terrific turn as Dracula. Mitchell taps into Dracula’s absurdity well, and finds plenty of humour in the role, especially in cape-swishing exits and daft displays of the Count’s devilish power. The character’s script offers some gentle ribbing at the play through self-referential jibes, keeping the good feeling and cheer running through the comedy, never going too dark.

It is also held together nicely by a standout ensemble that thrives in this comedic setting. Lorna Want’s Mina is fierce yet stereotypically fragile for a Victorian woman, while Keala Settle’s Lucy is assured and steals the show with a brilliantly comedic performance in the play’s final moments. Meanwhile, Monique Ashe-Palmer and Ciarán Dowd, Pustula and Sinster/Van Helsing, respectively, are much fun, with Dowd’s toothy portrayal of Sinister, and woolly-mouthed Van Helsing particularly funny. Philip Pope rounds off the cast as Holmwood/Seward, while also assisting in providing some of the a capella backing.

What makes this production stand out, undoubtedly, is the inclusion of a capella music, incorporating, with the help of outstanding beatboxing champion ABH Beatbox (Alexander Belgarion Hackett), several iconic hits as the play’s soundtrack. These largely land, with renditions of the Survivor’s Eye Of The Tiger,  Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero, and Queen’s Somebody to Love notable highlights. The formula to include these gets a little predictable in the second half, but the music nevertheless provides a great deal of humour, such as the reworking of Midnight Train To Georgia to bemoan a rail replacement service.

While not all the jokes land (some of the overtly political ones in the insane asylum feel a little forced), there is a lot of laughter to be had here, and, unlike Dracula, the obviousness of many of the groan-worthy puns never threatens to suck the life from the show. Indeed, the gelling of wordplay and slapstick humour works well, and you would have to be an energy vampire not to get swept up by the piece’s deliberate chaos.

Dracapella is a witty, full-throttle piece that largely keeps pace with its rapid-fire delivery. Though a little repetitive by the conclusion, the energetic cast works hard to deliver a fun, unapologetically daft, farcical take on the iconic novel.