I woke up this morning, the last vestiges of night clinging to the barely moving trees shrouded in thick fog. Or was this just my imagination stimulated by last night's Dracula?
Set aside contemporary logic. Enter the 19th century and the world of Bram Stoker, and immerse yourself in North Coast Rep's production of suspense and seduction. Playwright Steven Dietz's take on this classic is chilling.
Renfield (Sean Sullivan), in a short introduction, sets the scene, only to be considered insane and caged for most of the play. Sullivan is totally convincing, as is each member of the cast.
Harker (Jason Heil) is the first to come under the spell of Dracula (Matt Thompson). Life spins downhill for Lucy (Christy Yael) and becomes perilous for Mini (Brenda Dodge). Leave it to the machinations of Van Helsing (Robert Grossman), Seward (Christopher M. Williams) and Harker to bring order to the chaos.
Dracula is abetted by two lovely vixens (Michelle Procopio and Sunny Smith), as well as a couple of Attendants (Dylan Seaton and Beryln James Wieland) who keep things moving on stage.
Dracula is an experience, more than a play. Once immersed in the dark depths of depravity as the devil reincarnate, the title character sucks the life-blood out of the innocent, making them become a part of his reality.
Director Christopher Vened gives the piece a great look and power. Marty Burnett's excellent set consists of three areas: Renfield's cell on stage right, a bedroom on stage left, and a variety of locations center stage, with three-sided set pieces that are drapes, doors and stone walls matching the back wall.
Michelle Hunt's costumes are also distinctive. M. Scott Grabau's lighting design is very dramatic. Chris Luessman's sound design (his best to date) is an integral, omnipresent part of this event, as well.
Dracula, in this season of ghosts and goblins, is a near-perfect production. So get in the spirit of blood and puncture wounds; you'll never forget it.
