bBefore they took on the role of Bram Stalker's Earl of Vampire, co-writers Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen gave another title to Crime and Punishment: Comedy – speaks itself. Here, Dracula is placed in a humorous squeal, chasing after the necked person and playing Pansexual Blood Soccer.
There is a wealth of gender and genre inversions as Jonathan Harker (Charlie Stemp, good comic timing) trekked through the Carpathian mountains towards Dracula's castle. Harker's fiancé is Lucy (Sefina Rada), not Mina, played by Sebastian Torquia in the ginger ringlet wig.
In a production directed by Greenberg, Dracula (James Daly) makes a considerable entrance into the lower top and leather pants. He is bedroom eyes and playful in the rocky horror Frank and Fulter mold.
It's a shame then that the story doesn't reveal the same dangers and charms in her affair with Lucy and Harker. It's not really a violation, and his status as a sexual outsider and a chaotic force is castrated by the lightness of the comedy. The script is seriously pomp-pomp with warnings about time and immortal suffering.
Daly is still an attractive stage presence, and his gym-like twist on Byronic at Dracula is interesting in one notes. There may be fewer scripted jokes than PIN-Sharp, but there are many rankings and some funny gags.
In gender reversal, the show has the rough and easygoing feeling of Gothic punts. Van Helsing was a German doctor and the Blue Stockings played sparkly in Torchia. It's not radical or innovative, but it's fun.
The Tijana Bjelajac set design features bright butt-shaped wings and has a strange nightclub look from the 1980s. Disco Beat is mixed with cracks of thunder and lightning. DIY special effects give it a charm. As Dracula walks, she is sprayed by the actors instead of the smoke machine, puppet shows and ventriloquism carry the comedy well.
The five powerful cast juggles multiple roles in a particularly fast job by Diane Pilkington, as various characters, including Lucy's father. The performances are all round and full of fun and mischievousness, but the low-scripted jokes shorten the actor's talent. This comedy requires sharper fangs.
