In an ambitious staging of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," the Building Stage's silent-movie mimic adaptation of the classic horror tale is rather distinctive. With no spoken words among cast members, the actors rely on exaggerated hand gestures, physicality of movement and subtitles projected above the stage to keep the story moving along.
The opening scenes take place in a hospital run by Dr. Seward, which also functions as an insane asylum. Here, the ill-fated Lucy is being studied by Dr. Seward and fabled monster nemesis Professor Van Helsing as to why strange bite marks appeared on her, and why is her behavior so erratic. Elsewhere, an ineffectual madman and Dracula's lackey plots develops a strange fascination with flying creatures, as well as blood.
The cast does what it can do to work with the material on this dark and bleak set, but the whole series of scenes appears to be more "General Hospital 1878" than a tale of gathering gloom.
This is not new material by any means, and the tale has been staged thousands of ways, parodied and filmed through the years. Everyone knows the legend, and today's audiences are not used to a slow-moving tale of 18th century terror; neither are the actors. Their slow and dramatic movements, mouthed dialogue and white pancake makeup just appear as efforts to make something droll seem like something more.
One bright light in the production is the sound design by David J. Amaral. Even though the audience doesn't see much of Dracula, his presence is felt through chilling music and the sounds of bats swooping overhead. Also of note is the cast's ability at blocking, quickly transforming scene locations through moving scrims around the stage. While the cast's ability to don different coats and hats in order to play multiple character works well for the most part, having Christopher Hibbard play both Dr. Seward and Dracula (two critical parts) is a bit of a stretch.
If you're truly looking for a scare this Halloween season, do yourself a favor and skip this production. Instead, put "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on your Netflix queue and watch Winona Ryder get the bejesus scared out of her. You'll be glad you did.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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