Shakespeare Tavern is a lovely dinner theater venue in downtown Atlanta with an incredibly welcoming staff and a lot of great drinks. Through the large wooden arched doors at the street, it’s just a short trip downstairs to the box office. There’s even a chairlift installed for those who may need it. (There are no elevators in the building.) Immediately off the Box Office are the lobby bar and gift shop, each open from the moment the upstairs doors are opened.

Tickets are relatively affordable, though that just gets you in the door. Everything else to accompany your play experience - dinner, drinks, dessert, more drinks… - is extra. The especially refined can even reserve exclusive luxe packages that ensure an up-close-and-personal experience with the night’s show.

The bar offers the standard range of beer and wine, along with crafted cocktails themed to match the evening’s show. Prices are typical of other bars nearby. Everyone hanging around when we got there was friendly and eager to chat about the place and the show. Nearer the theater entrance, there’s a comfy lounge-style area set up for hanging out while waiting to be seated.

Parties are called back to be seated by order of arrival, and are given either a red or black poker chip when arriving to indicate their group and place in line. Those with the more expensive packages are seated first.

The kitchen is open from the beginning of seating, which is usually a good 75 minutes before the show starts. We had plenty of time to get food and seats and have our fill before the play. I had the shepherd’s pie, which was more than I was expecting, and very filling.

We ordered tickets too late to get floor seats, so wound up sitting in the theater’s balcony, which is first-come-first-serve with no assigned seating. This caused a slight bit of chaos as our tipped-up seats were evidently not enough to indicate they were claimed, and someone else was sitting in our spot when we returned from getting food. One short relocation to the opposite end of the balcony had us seated (somewhat) comfortably.

On my visit, the show was Dracula: The Failings of Men - an adapatation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. The numerous warnings and advisories before the show started warned us of the heavy usage of strobe lights, fog and haze, prop weapons (gunfire), and blood (and quite a bit of that). The program notes also mention elements of aerial dance, which did have one big feature in each of the play’s two acts.

Runtime-wise, the entire experience runs just shy of 4 hours, with pre-show drinks, dinner, and a 15-minute intermission between acts included.

In all, the show was good. Lots and lots of blood, as promised. Quite a few unexpectedly humorous moments that I loved. Renfield and Lucy were definitely favorites from the night. I kind of wonder where Mina was, though? I get that Lucy’s writing letters to her at the beginning of the play, but that’s all we get? Van Helsing, fine - slaying vampires and the patriarchy simultaneously is definitely commendable. It just felt kind of like…half a story? Still a great evening out, and an adventure I hadn’t had before. I’d go again to see an actual Shakespeare play.