Cynthia Erivo Returns to the Stage in a One-Woman ‘Dracula’
Cynthia Erivo is headed back to the West End, and this time, she’s taking on 23 characters in one of the most ambitious stage productions we’ve seen in a while. The Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner will star in Dracula, adapted and directed by Kip Williams, at London’s Noël Coward Theatre starting February 4, 2026. Yes, that Dracula, but not like you’ve ever seen before.
This one-woman adaptation is part of Williams’ “gothic trilogy,” following his boundary-pushing takes on The Picture of Dorian Gray (starring Sarah Snook) and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. First staged by the Sydney Theatre Company in 2024, Dracula is being billed as the trilogy’s most ambitious installment, and with Erivo at the helm, we’re already obsessed.
In the show, Erivo will embody a wide range of characters, from solicitor Jonathan Harker and his fiancée Mina Murray, to Lucy Westenra and her suitors, vampire hunter Van Helsing, and, of course, the bloodsucker himself. It’s the kind of theatrical feat that most actors wouldn’t dare attempt, but then again, Cynthia Erivo isn’t most actors.
This marks her first return to the stage since her star-making run in The Color Purple, which took her from the London production to Broadway and earned her a well-deserved Tony, Grammy, and Emmy. Since then, she’s been booked and busy, and with Wicked: Part Two (Wicked: For Good) hitting cinemas this November, Dracula is shaping up to be the next major chapter in her already iconic career.
“Returning to the stage feels like a homecoming, one that I’ve been craving for a long time,” Erivo told The Hollywood Reporter. “To do so with a story as rich, complex, and haunting as Dracula offers a beautiful opportunity to delve into character, into myth, and into the heart of what makes us human… The prospect of doing this show scares me and I know it will be a huge challenge. This show will ask everything of me — and I’m ready to give it.”
As queer audiences, we’ve always loved a bit of gothic drama, and watching an LGBTQ+ icon like Erivo reinterpret Dracula through an inclusive, multi-character lens? That’s theatre we need to see.
We’ll be counting down the days until February 2026, and if the theatre gods are good to us, we’ll be front row for what’s sure to be a chilling, shape-shifting spectacle.
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Featured Image: Image Via Getty Images. Credit: Gilbert Flores.
