Almost 100 years since its original film adaption, Perth will be host to a uniquely WA-adaption of Dracula.
The production will be an all out bogan-fest featuring a “lean and mighty” cast that will play into the charming and hilarious tropes of regional WA towns when it opens at Northbridge’s Planet Royale on Thursday.
Set in Narrogin, the Bogan Literature adaption of Dracula is set to dazzle crowds in a 75-minute bonanza of “silly and extremely West Australian” fun.
Creator Dean Lovatt landed on Dracula after a toss-up with Frankenstein about a year ago, writing it in about four months before more recently jumping into a rehearsals with his cast of five.
“I thought, what if Dracula was set in the modern day, and what if Dracula, instead of going to London, found himself in Narrogin, in the Wheatbelt, here in WA? And what might happen from there?,” he told The West Australian.
“We keep really true to the original. All of our adaptations are a homage, we always come from a place of understanding and love of the original text, and then we obviously poke fun from there.”
Mr Lovatt is best known for Bogan Shakespeare, a collective of Perth based writers, performers, comedians and improvisers that has been a premium and often sell-out long-running Fringe festival show.
It’s popularity in Narrogin, in part, is what inspired the town’s centre-stage role in the re-imagined Dracula.
“With Bogan Shakespeare, we toured it across most of WA a couple of years ago, and one of the places that we have toured to multiple times and they really supported us, was Narrogin,” he said.
“Every time we went, we had a fantastic time, and really got to know the locals. And my nan met my granddad in Narrogin, and that’s where my mum came from, and that’s where I came from.
“So they’re big fans of us there, we love them, and also I’ve got a bit of personal connection.”
Mr Lovatt said ticket holders should come prepared for big belly laughs from the show’s “banger one-liners” and to expect more than a few diversions from the original storyline.
“Our main protagonist Nina, she’s the female protagonist from the original books, but we’ve given her a bit more agency in our version. So I think it’s come out to be a bit of a feminist text,” he said.
“She’s very much become the action man in our version, and I particularly love our Van Helsing in the show, they’re a Herbalife-type health guru and they don’t just want to fight vampires, they also want to make sure that everyone’s getting in on their downline and joining their health guru business.”
Bogan Literature Presents: Dracula opens in Perth’s Planet Royale on September 10, 2026. Tickets are available here.
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