Choreographer and director David Nixon has creatively reinterpreted selected scenes rather than giving a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel and this largely works in the production's favour, making it a boldly signposted and sumptuous gothic feast.

The amount of black velvet on stage, whether as swirling capes or piles of earth, is enough to dress a small army — Ali Allen's set design, especially the curling metalwork and cobwebs in the cemetery, is a Tim Burton dream brought to life.