It is 1989, and one of the most vicious regimes of all time is falling as Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu stand trial in Romania.

And it is 1976, and the Ceausescus, at the height of their powers, mount a pageant to celebrate the glory of the Romanian nation.

And it is the fifteenth century, and Vlad Tepes - the original Count Dracula - steps out of the dark mists and swings his cape about him. He looks around him and his eyes gleam red.

The Communist Dracula Pageant is a wild and offbeat romp through the web of Romanian myth and history, drawn from the imagination of one of this country's most lauded young writers. Our own election season provides the perfect backdrop for the premiere of this theatrical satire on the forging of a national identity, and the power of a president to rewrite the news.