With oodles of blood, passionate lust, and spine-chilling horror, the play Dracula stimulates your adrenaline and forces you to stay reeled in to the dramatic and exciting thriller. The sophomore class of Trinity High School saw Dracula, by Bram Stoker, at Actors Theatre on October 2nd, 2014. If you like horrific romance and frightening performances, this play is recommended for you. This is one of the most exhilarating and intense plays I have seen. As the audience becomes mute, the lights fade to a faint, eerie spotlight on the center stage. Fog rolls out onto the stage and shortly clears. Sporadically, Renfield (Marc Bovino) darts out onto the stage. He insanely murmurs to himself and is eventually met by Van Helsing (William McNulty). As Dr. Seward (Joe Curnutte) and Van Helsing try to get him under control, he leaps throughout the room crazily. Dracula (Randolph Curtis Rand) soon visits and chats with the two men. His eyes land on Lucy (Ann Sonneville) and instantly covets her as he kisses her hand and dances with her. As Renfield become more mentally unstable and Mina becomes extremely pale and sleepy, the men make the connection and try to infiltrate the lustful and wicked …show more content…
Though the stage was diminutive, the play still felt very personal and up-close. The set was shape-shifted several times throughout with trap doors and moving floors, all while the lights were powered off. The stage is centered and the seats are tiered around it, like a coliseum. At the beginning, Dr. Seward’s office was on the stage; it was comprised of a desk and chair, a coffee table, a small sofa, some old, faded books and a few desk lamps. During the performance, a few special effects and stunts were used; they include: a mechanical bat attached to the rafters, Dracula being lowered onto the set, fog making Dracula “vanish”, and some