Over at STARBURST Towers, we are rather fond of the odd bit of camp horror; the sillier and campier the name, the better. So we simply had to go see Airlock Theatre’s Count Dykula.
The action begins with the titular count attempting to get a quick snack, only to discover that their victim is unimpressed by our leather-clad undead protagonist. Apparently, Count Dykula is the ‘wrong sort’ of vampire. Bummed out by this revelation, our heroic butch undead loner discovers that there is a new university in town, bullying the local supernatural population into conforming to very narrow stereotypes.
Wackiness ensues as the Count infiltrates the school and teams up with other misfits to defeat societal pressure made manifest. The commentary is not subtle, but then neither is the humour. The jokes are in-your-face funny, and it doesn’t pull any punches. The cast are charismatic and having a great time, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
Deeply funny, incredibly queer, and very, very silly, Count Dykula is a rare treat; it combines camp humour with sharp comic timing and memorable gags. The mix of high-school drama parody, supernatural drama and unconventional humour really works. It’s filled with great ideas, and the script can’t resist the urge to stuff every single possible moment with either a pun or camp humour. The show is so self-aware that we partially expected a third eye to open on the stage at some point.
You can book tickets for their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show here, and find out more about future shows here and here.
