A CLASSIC play takes centre stage at Northwich’s Harlequin Theatre next week.

The Harlequin Players welcome back award-winning director Christopher Finney to the Queen Street theatre after a break of two years to present this new adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic gothic-horror tale.

The story Dracula starts as solicitor Jonathan Harker, played by Jordan McLellan, leaves his fiancée Mina for the Carpathian Mountains, to finalise a property sale with the enigmatic Count Dracula, performed by Richard Beech, who is soon to purchase Carfax Abbey in London.

But the Count hides a terrifying secret, the discovery of which is just the beginning of a nightmare in which Harker will become a prisoner of darkness, while a bloodthirsty, supernatural force is unleashed back in England.

There, a small group of friends must learn to believe in the undead to hunt down and destroy the seemingly unstoppable vampire.

Christopher is well known to Harlequin regulars for his ground-breaking productions and audiences were wowed by his last production, an original adaption of the classic tale of Moby Dick in 2016.

Adapted by screenwriter Phil Ford, the production of Dracula is the penultimate of the current season which has displayed the depth of talent at the theatre and the wide range of productions.

This performance promises to be an “enthralling evening of theatre” according to the director, Christopher Finney, and will be running for four nights from April 19 until April 21.

The box office is open, and tickets are available online from harlequinplayers.com or by telephone to 01606 246831.