On Saturday, October 26th, I had the pleasure of seeing yet another first-rate production put on by the Castle Craig Players at the Almira F. Stephan Memorial Playhouse in Meriden, CT. Bram Stoker’s DRACULA is brought to life on stage, through the adaptation by Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston. The brilliant direction of Stephen Amato brings out the best in this stellar cast that includes Erin Aldrich, Timothy Barton, Sara Courtemanche, Griffin Kulp, Meghan Magner, Tullio Milani, Bill Rodman, and Mike Zimmerman, all who excel in their respective roles, as individuals, and as a collective group!
The horror ambiance is strongly set in the playhouse, with excellent lighting and sound design, from Ben Ehrenreich and Lee Dupree, respectively. The set is effectively designed by Stephen Amato. It features a couch that is in front of a large window, the place from which Dracula makes the majority of his entrances. The window entrance is rigged to automatically open, with the background colors behind the window periodically changing. Flashing lights, haze, and fog effects bring increased intensity to the feel of the shocking moments, combining with the rest of the theatrical elements present to draw the audience right into the story, as if we are there, and at risk of the same potential danger that the characters face. All this is done without ever breaking the fourth wall!
The story starts with Dr. Seward, portrayed by Bill Rodman, distraught over the sudden illness of his daughter, Lucy, an illness that contains the same symptoms of something that recently took the life of another young woman in the area. Jonathan Harker, played by Griffin Kulp is engaged to Lucy and also desires an explanation to what is ailing her, and the cure. Van Helsing, a Dutch doctor, who Timothy Barton becomes on stage, believes that Lucy may be a victim of vampire bites, a suggestion that Van Helsing acknowledges would make most authorities think he was a loony, but that he nevertheless believes is a strong possibility. Dr. Seward is initially very skeptical, but not completely dismissive. The strong stage chemistry between these three highly talented actors makes them a powerful team of likeable central protagonists.
Sara Courtemanche gives an amazing performance as Lucy, complete with a convincing British accent. Lucy initially is a highly likeable calm and reserved character coming across as having sweet innocence. That makes her sudden blood-curdling screams all the more jarring to the audience, creating a true horror feel. By the third of the three acts, Lucy suddenly has a personality transformation that is so radical that it feels like she is an entirely different person, a deliberate change that works incredibly well to depict the magnitude of the danger she is facing, the external danger becoming internal as well.
Tullio Milani stars as Dracula who creates an eerie feeling from the very moments of his calculated entrances. Dracula shows mastery in his deception, initially trying to come across as normal, despite the depths of depravity that course through his veins. His predatory behavior towards humans represents evil itself.
The maid, Miss Welles, gets hypnotized by Dracula, despite her deliberate attempt to resist it. Dracula forces the hypnosis upon her, against her will. Meghan Magner, as Miss Welles, totally sells the scene by her authentic reaction to the hypnosis, making the audience feel as if she really was hypnotized.
Butterworth is an intriguing character who Mike Zimmerman provides the perfect level of mystique to, with a strong accent and mannerisms that make Butterworth’s motives intentionally questionable. Butterworth is the guard of Renfield, a patient of Dr. Seward's who mysteriously manages to escape from his room every night, despite Butterworth's efforts to stop this from happening.
Erin Aldrich steals the show as Renfield, an extremely quirky mental patient who occasionally and suddenly becomes physically violent, elevating the intensity of Renfield's creepiness that already radiates throughout Renfield’s voice, choice of words, erratic movements, and reputation for eating flies and spiders. Renfield is conflicted between Renfield’s own will of not wanting to harm anyone, and the mind and action-controlling will of Dracula, whose power Renfield is under, despite Renfield trying to fight it. Renfield's abilities to warn everyone about the degree of danger that Dracula poses are limited by Dracula's ability to remotely hinder Renfield's words and actions. The show uses Renfield’s character to promote sympathy for those who suffer from mental illness, while simultaneously showing that such sympathy should never be manifest through failure to be vigilant regarding the need to keep the innocent protected from the potential dangers that such mental illnesses may inflict upon them. As we, as a society, speed down the path of sympathy, it is important to remember that no worthwhile accommodation for mental illness should ever put the safety of the innocent at risk.
Through all the horror, positive messages abound in this show. The ultimate supreme power of God is acknowledged and extolled above that of evil and above that of Earthly authorities who try to combat evil. A (simulated) consecrated Eucharist is used by Van Helsing, with dispensation, to temporarily ward away Dracula, further showing that there is no evil in the world that is more powerful than the goodness manifested through God's presence. Furthermore, empathy's role in assisting attitudes of mercy and forgiveness is displayed by Lucy. When Jonathan communicates a goal of wanting to defeat Dracula, with Dracula's soul going to Hell, Lucy, while acknowledging the need to defeat Dracula, asks for prayers, mercy, and forgiveness for Dracula, not wishing for the condemnation of the soul of a person who, like her, was victimized.
Renfield questions why God allows evil to happen. Renfield should realize, however, that evil is an inevitable result of the misuse of free will, while the absence of free will, like that experienced by Renfield, is evil in itself. Yes, many people, aided by God’s grace, make the choice to strive to conform their own will to the will of God, but that is still a choice. It would be a logical fallacy to assume that a world where we all lacked free will would be a world without evil because that lack of free will would be evil in itself. So, rather than complaining about evil, we would be better off and happier if we used that energy to be grateful for the blessing of free will, and by God’s grace, used our own free will to help make the world a better place. We can start with ourselves, following Lucy’s virtuous example of preferring to see those who have harmed us come to repentance and be forgiven, rather than to see them suffer for the pain they caused.
DRACULA is scheduled to continue to run through November 10, 2024. I highly recommend this show, particularly for fans of good horror, done well. If you are not used to the horror genre in plays, I highly recommend starting with this one. If you are fresh blood to the horror genre, you will get to see it performed at its best, your first time! For times and tickets, please go to Tickets.
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