Countess Dracula at Camden People’s Theatre: One Woman and the Madness of Midlife
A darkly comic reimagining of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joanna Holden’s new show explores menopause, ageing, and the chaos of midlife with horror, humour and heart.
OftheJackel and Joanna Holden bring a fearless, darkly comic take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula to Camden People’s Theatre. This is no ordinary adaptation. One of literature’s most enduring monsters is reimagined as a woman confronting ageing, rage, humour and the chaos of menopause.
Performed by Joanna Holden (Told by an Idiot, Cirque du Soleil) and Jack Kelly (Shrimshanks, Withered Optimism), the show unfolds as a strange vaudeville double act — part horror, part satire, part love story, part breakdown — where the performance never quite ends and real life never quite begins.
Drawing on Holden’s lived experience of menopause, the production explores the turbulence of identity in midlife. With physical comedy, clowning and absurdist theatricality, the Countess steps from the shadows to reclaim her dwindling fire, turning humour and horror into a visceral, fearless exploration of what it means to grow older in a culture obsessed with youth.
Devised collaboratively with Jack Kelly and director Deborah Newbold, the work was shaped in part by community workshops with people experiencing menopause, ensuring it reflects a wide range of lived experiences. The result is a world stitched together from the dark and absurd: horror, humour, rage and metamorphosis.
Countess Dracula turns a gothic myth into a metaphor for midlife, identity, and the often-overlooked experience of menopause, offering audiences humour, horror, and a fresh perspective on ageing.
Venue: Camden People’s Theatre
Dates: 29 October – 1 November 2025
Tickets: £12–£18
Book: cptheatre.co.uk
Elena Leo is the Arts & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
