It's come to the point where the Halloween holiday theater season almost rivals the Christmas holiday theater season. It's not just
Twin Cities Horror Festival (currently running through November 3), spooky theater abounds everywhere! A fantastic entry into this theater sub-genre is Nocturnal Giraffe's regional premiere of the new horror-comedy play about one of our most famous creepy characters: Dracula. Written by NYC-based playwrights Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen and premiering Off-Broadway earlier this year,
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is more funny than scary, unless we're talking scary good. The five-person cast is a definite contender for the Twin Cities Theater Blogger Award for favorite comedic cast; they're all ridiculous. At about 90 minutes no intermission, it's the perfect treat for the season.
See it at Center for Performing Arts now through November 2 (including a Halloween night performance).
The play takes place in the late 19th Century but is written in modern language, with intentional anachronisms and pop culture references. Which makes it a whole lot of fun. Our story opens when real estate agent Jonathan travels to Transylvania to finalize the sale of several London properties to one Count Dracula. When Dracula sees a photo of Jonathan's wife Lucy, and her porcelain white neck, he becomes obsessed with her. He hops on a ship (bad luck for everyone else on board), and shows up at their engagement party at her father's home in a seaside English estate. He's a doctor who treats the insane, who live with him and work as his servants (sounds like a great idea). Lucy's less attractive older sister Mina falls for Dracula (and really any and every man), and after spending the night with him comes down with a mysterious illness. The female Dr. Van Helsing, a specialist from Germany, is brought in to consult, and eventually the group discovers the truth of the illness and goes on a quest to vanquish the vampire and save them all.
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| the cast of Dracula (photo by Jared Fessler) |
Nocturnal Giraffe describes the play as what happens when you take "Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale and put it into a blender with Mel Brooks, Monty Python, and
The 39 Steps." Those influences are definitely there, but it also has more than a few
Rocky Horror Show vibes (which is also playing this season, at
4 Community Theatre in the old Plymouth Playhouse space, directed by Greta Grosch). A young and innocent couple, seduced by a dangerously sexy creature, who band together and come out of the ordeal stronger and better for it. Director Joy Donley leads the cast in a ridiculously over-the-top tone, hurtling fast-paced through the story. The small cast leads to some clever double-casting and quick changes, sometimes in the same scene. You can see through the curtain to what they're doing to make this all work, which only makes it more fun to watch.
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| Dustin Bronson as Dracula (photo by Jared Fessler) |
Dustin Bronson is just perfect in the title role; his Dracula is like his role as the foppish Dauphin in the
Guthrie's History Plays, but on steroids. Bradley Johnson is charming as the nervous and timid Jonathan, and gets to have some fun in other roles. Bethany McCade is great as the smart and strong Lucy who wants more than is offered to her by the 19th Century women's roles. Rounding out the cast are Katie Consamus and Corey Mills, like the two clowns in
The 39 Steps, playing the most extreme version of multiple roles. Katie is Lucy's pompous pipe-smoking father, and an absurdly lisping servant/patient, while Corey Mills brings great physical comedy to his roles as the homely sister and the tough German doctor. Watching them flip back and forth between characters, and the little tricks they do, is very amusing.
The black box space at CFPA is hung with red velvet curtains, a few period set pieces brought smoothly on and off stage (accompanied by Michael Pearce Donley's original compositions). The costume design is essential in keeping all of the characters straight, and ranges from rich and lush look of Dracula's leather pants and vest, and Lucy's elegant attire, to the silliness of some of the more goofy characters. Wigs, fake mustaches, props (like a wooden dagger), fog-in-a-can, and of course coffins all help tell the story. (Set design by Kevin Argus, prop design by Nate Farley, costume design by Sasha Hildebrand.)
