The Kings Theatre, Southsea, Portsmouth

Dracula, February 2011
The News review by Helen Smith, Saturday 12^th February 2011

“This first production by the Kings Youth Theatre, a group who have been in existence for less than a year, showed spark, talent and a great enthusiasm for performance.  A witty take on the traditional pantomime, Dracula has comic turns by the dozen, a decent dose of love and the man who stole the show, an exquisitely nasty baddie.

Sapphi van Helsing played by Marisa Green was the perfect heroine – bolshy, determined and headstrong, matched by her mother (Natasha Cole) whose love affair with nervous Jonathan Harker was sweet and mischievous.  The ensemble – particularly the vampire bats – were an excellent complement to the strong leads, but it was Count Dracula (Steven Jones) who was deliciously bad; he conquered the stage and enthralled the audience.

The animation was a lovely touch, the set simple but effective – this youth theatre have demonstrated ample talent and bundles of enthusiasm.”