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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews Dracula Reviewed by Craig Nolan Highley Entire contents are copyright © 2008, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
Actors Theatre has outdone itself yet again with its current production of Dracula. You know upon entering the auditorium that you are in for an unusual evening of theatre; during the pre-show waiting period, a laser projects a series of arcane symbols onto the floor of the stage. Combined with a strange, misty fog that fills the theatre, the effect is both ominous and unsettling.
Director/playwright/actor William McNulty has done an admirable job of taking Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston's stuffy 1927 stage adaptation (the basis of both the 1931 Bela Lugosi and 1979 Frank Langella film versions) of Bram Stoker's iconic horror novel and adapting it into an almost cinematic vision of terror. McNulty's script retains the general outline of the Deane/Balderston play while adding moments of visceral violence and restructuring the story to more closely follow Stoker's novel. The result is a very powerful evening of theatre. As soon as the lights dim on the audience, we are presented with a nightmarish opening scene: a hideous, demonic figure terrorizes a pretty young woman in a graveyard, culminating with a shockingly bloody vampire attack; when the smoke clears, the girl is dead and the gruesome vampire has transformed into the handsome, aristocratic figure of Count Dracula. The play then shifts to the main setting, the office and drawing room of Dr. Seward's sanitarium. The bulk of the story revolves around Seward's attempts to protect his ward Lucy from the advances of the legendary Count, with the help of vampire hunter Van Helsing and lunatic inmate Renfield. Marc Bovino's manic Renfield steals the show, and is almost exhausting to watch. As Dracula, Randolph Curtis Rand's menace is undermined by his unfortunate resemblance, both in stature and voice, to Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat; not a good character to emulate in a thriller. While McNulty has done a remarkable job as playwright and director, his performance as Van Helsing is a little too laid back, and his accent comes and goes. Jeffrey Withers and Kim Stauffer are quite engaging in their roles of Seward and Lucy. The rest of the performers also acquit themselves nicely. Though not without some minor flaws, the production is solid entertainment and will likely make you jump more than once. I would not recommend bringing small children, but for tweens, teens, and adults, this is one hell of a fun evening!
Dracula
Posted Sept. 25, 2008
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