Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors

Play (2023)
by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897)
Directed by Christopher V. Edwards
Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Mosesian Theater
Watertown, MA
October 9 – November 1, 2026

With Paul Melendy (Dracula); Doug Lockwood (Mina / Dr. Van Helsing); Bobbie Steinbach (Dr. Westfeldt / Renfield); Thalia Gerloff (Lucy / Kitty); Nicholas Papayoanou (Jonathan Harker / Ensemble)

The sheepish and well-behaved English solicitor Jonathan Harker (Nicholas Papayoanou) goes to Transylvania to engage in some potential real-estate negotiations with Count Dracula (Paul Melendy) about a property in England. It doesn’t take Jonathan too long to see that Dracula is not normal. Back in England, where both Harker and Dracula have arrived, Harker’s fiancée Lucy (Thalia Gerloff) and her sister Mina (Doug Lockwood) get involved in the doings, and Dr. Westfeldt (Bobbie Steinbach), a vampire hunter, is enlisted to deal with Dracula’s nefarious enterprises. In the course of things, Lucy is attacked, Jonathan is attacked, Mina is attacked, and the attempt to destroy Dracula becomes somewhat compromised. Along the way, medical doctor Van Helsing (Doug Lockwood),and an associate, Renfield (Bobbie Steinbach), the supervisor of a clinic, weigh in on the state of the newly infected victims.

Much of the basic tale of the Bram Stoker Dracula, seems to be incorporated into this goofy romp, save for a switching of the major female roles. Here, Lucy becomes the fiancée of Jonathan and her sister Mina (a friend in Stoker’s tale) is otherwise involved. But, suffice it to say, the precision of the narrative turns is not the focus of this amusing takeoff on the traditional horror story.

Among the biggest takeaways from this production are the very funny sight gags that proliferate. There are various points at which the assembled actors simulate riding in a car or trolley, or pretend to be going up or down stairs, and they do it marvelously. If the whole show had been sight gags of this sort, all so wonderfully done, I would not have complained.

As Dracula, Paul Melendy, a very vivid and athletic comic actor who gives new meaning to monkeyshines, does a perfectly out-there rendition of the demon, filled with wiggles, groans and grimaces that make the character into a nonstop physical comedian.

As Mina, Doug Lockwood is completely delightful, capturing the role with a faux demureness and charm that make its peculiarity sing. He is both captivatingly delightful and ridiculous, and conveys both in a swirl of delight. It’s a little hard to imagine Lockwood, a talented, and here very broad, comic actor, also as the talented director of the exquisitely done and subtle The Glass Menagerie at Gloucester Stage last year; he is a multi-talented guy.

The loveable and versatile Bobbie Steinbach weighs in handily for her dual performance as Dr. Westfeldt and Renfield, showing her most comic stuff in a wonderful wig switching scene in which she plays both characters simultaneously.

As Harker, Nicholas Papayoanou exudes a wonderful slithering charm, and when he gets to show a little pizzazz, he does it with unencumbered joy. Thalia Gerloff as Lucy is his evocative and charming counterpart, carrying it off with style and restraint, until the bounds of sanity are broken, at which point Lucy, like Harker, get to display some down-there badass verve.

All in all: an amusing romp, to watch less for the story and more for the gaggery.

– BADMan (aka Charles Munitz)