'I don't pay attention': Cynthia Erivo ignores online criticism as Dracula gets mixed reviews

After years defying gravity, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has traded the shimmering world of Oz for something darker and far more demanding.

On the stage at London's Noël Coward Theatre, Erivo stands alone, carrying an entire gothic epic on her shoulders in a new adaptation of Dracula.

There are no flying monkeys or emerald cities here. Instead, the actress alone carries a two-hour theatrical marathon, playing 23 characters with 20,000 words of dialogue in a constant dance with live technology that blurs the boundary between film and stage.

During early preview performances, the show attracted attention for more than its ambition, as some audience members complained online that Erivo appeared to still be learning sections of the script and at moments relied on an autocue.

But speaking after the show's opening night on Tuesday, the 39-year-old told the BBC she blocks out those comments.

"I'm not paying attention to any of them as no-one knows the experience except me," she said. "It's not for me."

"I have a job to do and I want to do it as well as I can and I want to do it with all my heart. I don't let the comments take the energy that I should be spending on the stage."

Erivo accepts that she was "still learning my lines and figuring it out" during the preview shows, adding that "bit by bit it's become something that's a part of me, and everyone's learning process is different".

The production is stripped back and minimal. Erivo conjures the Victorian world through voice and movement and her Dracula, delivered in a Nigerian accent and crowned with bright red hair, is only one of dozens of transformations.

She slips between characters through rapid costume changes as several cameras film her live, projecting close-ups of her face onto a screen where the audience watches much of the action unfold.

Bram Stoker's 1897 novel about a Transylvanian vampire whose move to England unleashes terror, obsession and desire is one of the most frequently adapted works of fiction in history, with hundreds of stage and screen versions reinventing the vampire for new generations.

Erivo said she hopes Stoker would like this adaptation and explained why she chose to take on the role.

"It challenges me and makes me learn in a different way so I am forced to grow as an artist," she said.

"If things were easy it would be boring so I choose the challenges."

A stage performer at heart, Erivo made her West End debut in 2011 and has since become one of the few artists nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, winning all but the Oscar.

Asked what it actually takes to prepare for a performance of that scale night after night, Erivo described a routine built on discipline and repetition.

"You have some good people who can help and it takes time and patience," she said. "You find your way in and the through-line, and it becomes easier to learn."

She added that before every show she meditates, has an extensive vocal warm-up and "runs sections of the show".

Erivo is not the only Wicked star performing in the West End.

Her former co-stars Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are set to reunite for a London revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George at the Barbican in 2027.

Erivo tells BBC News she would not rule out sharing a stage with them in future. "Maybe it's something I'd consider," she said. "I'd never say no."

Dracula has divided critics so far. "From defying gravity to defying mortality – Cynthia Erivo gives an extraordinary, shape shifting performance," wrote the Standard's Nick Curtis in a four-star review.

"Her performance triumphantly walks a knife edge between virtuosity and absurdity.

But many critics were far less positive. In a two-star review, Sam Marlowe of the Stage said that the show had "sounded like such a toothsome prospect", but that the result is "bloodless".

"What could possibly go wrong? Sadly, the answer is: almost everything," she said. "I wouldn't go so far as to say it sucks, but it certainly doesn't bite."

There was another two-star review from the Guardian's Arifa Akbar, who said the show's atmosphere is "sedate", with "no peril whatsoever".

"The story is narrated by Erivo, with only snippets in dialogue," she explained, "which gives the sense of an audiobook accompanied by screen illustrations."

The Daily Mail's Patrick Marmion described it as a "wickedly good" adaptation, although only awarded it three stars overall.

"Over a very long and testing two hours and five minutes – unrelieved by the mercy of an interval – [Erivo] gives an astonishing performance," he said.

Dracula is a "soul-sapping affair", according to Sarah Crompton of WhatsOnStage, who said: "It's slick, soulless and all about appearances. There's no jeopardy or really any true drama."

The show's use of technology was "deeply unsatisfying and at points very frustrating" for City AM's Adam Bloodworth.

"I didn't come here to watch a film about Dracula, I came here to watch a live show," he said. "The production disassociates you with much of the feeling and heft of live performance."

Olivia Garrett of the Radio Times agreed the show is "let down by overproduction" in a three-star review, adding: "Like Dracula himself, this production sits stranded in the middle, not dead, not alive, but somewhere in between."

There was more enthusiasm from the Telegraph's Dominic Cavendish, who described Dracula as "an incredible feat of endurance" that "raises the stakes for British theatre".

"The British actress proves any doubters wrong," he said in his four-star review. "This isn't a flawless night but it's a tour de force even so."

Additional reporting by Steven McIntosh.