LONDON – After conquering Hollywood, the powerhouse performer returns to her first love, the stage, in a radical reimagining of a gothic legend. Producers Michael Cassel and Adam Kenwright have announced that Sydney Theatre Company’s internationally acclaimed production of Dracula, adapted and directed by visionary theatre-maker Kip Williams, will make its London premiere at the Noël Coward Theatre in February 2026. But this isn’t your grandmother’s vampire tale, it’s a hypnotic, one-woman tour de force led by none other than Cynthia Erivo, marking her first stage role in nearly a decade.

Fresh off a whirlwind year that includes her scene-stealing turn as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good and a slew of award nominations (including an Oscar nod for Best Actress), Erivo is about to embark on one of the boldest challenges of her career: embodying all 23 characters of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, from the innocent Jonathan Harker to the infamous Count Dracula himself

“Returning to the stage feels like a homecoming,” Erivo says. “Kip’s vision is thrilling, terrifying, and deeply human. This show will ask everything of me, and I’m ready to give it.”

Williams’ Dracula is the final installment in his acclaimed “gothic trilogy,” following his genre-defining takes on The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Like its predecessors, the production uses his signature “cine-theatre” technique — a hypnotic blend of live performance, film, and video design — to explore the razor’s edge between fear and desire. It’s not just a story about monsters in the dark, but about the ones we carry within.

“The vampire has always been a metaphor for the parts of ourselves we fear and deny,” Williams explains. “This adaptation asks what happens when we stop running from them.”

Supported by an award-winning creative team, including designer Marg Horwell, lighting designer Nick Schlieper, and composer Clemence Williams, Dracula promises to be a lush, sensory experience that blurs the boundaries between theatre and cinema.

For producers Cassel and Kenwright, bringing Dracula to the West End feels like destiny. “Cynthia is an artist of extraordinary power and presence,” Cassel says. “Her return to the stage will be a once-in-a-generation event.”

Originally premiered by Sydney Theatre Company in 2024, Dracula continues a landmark collaboration between the company and the Michael Cassel Group, dedicated to bringing Australian innovation to global audiences.

And for Erivo, who has spent the past decade conquering music, film, and television, this return feels like a reclamation. Between her upcoming album I Forgive You, her starring role in Children of Blood and Bone, and this audacious new project, she’s redefining what it means to be a multi-hyphenate artist.

“I’ve missed the immediacy of the stage,” she says. “Dracula is terrifying and beautiful, and I can’t wait to share that heartbeat with a live audience again.”

Tickets for Dracula will go on sale later this year. Consider this your warning: the West End is about to get deliciously dark.

Dracula will premiere at the Noël Coward Theatre in February 2026. More information available on www.draculawestend.com