Female Forward Dracula Takes Shape At Theatre Three

As previously announced, Theatre Three will kick off its 2019-20 season with a new spin on the classic tale, DRACULA (October 3 through October 27).

You've long heard the story of DRACULA, everyone's favorite blood-sucking Transylvanian; but what stories might we learn through the eyes of his mysterious mistress Mina? This fresh adaptation of the Bram Stoker Gothic horror novel takes a deeper look into the Romanian folklore with an update on the undead. Be prepared for plenty of bloody plot twists and turns!

This haunted tale full of fights and fangs has been craving (pun intended) a female touch and Theatre Three's incoming Associate Artistic Director Christie Vela, who co-conceived and will serve as director for the new work, is just the woman for the job. Ms. Vela co-conceived the new work with Michael Federico, who will provide the script for the piece.

"Michael and I had been talking about Dracula for a few years. We both love the novel. We knew it was time to look at the story from a different perspective." Director Christie Vela explained, "The thing that kept coming back to us is that even though the women in the story are central to the events, we don't ever really get to hear what they think or feel about what is happening to them; we only know that they need to be "saved". We thought, what if Mina doesn't want to be saved? What if we have a story about the awakening of not only female sexuality but female agency in a world that keeps telling her she can only be one thing, and what if her only real salvation is a monster?"

But Vela is not the only formidable woman entering the scene this Halloween. Leading the company of Theatre Three's DRACULA is Texas-based actress Alison Pistorius, gender-bending the title role. Ms. Pistorius co-stars alongside Gloria Benavides, a local actress who will recreate the role of Dr. Van Helsing. Additional casting to be announced. ­

About the company:

Christie Vela (Director) was an original member of Dallas Theater Center's Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company and is an artistic associate at Second Thought Theatre and a company member with Kitchen Dog Theater. She is well respected as one of the area's top directors as well, working on Straight White Men and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again at Second Thought Theatre; Titus Andronicus with Shakespeare Dallas; Don't Dress for Dinner at Stage West; and Paper Flowers at Kitchen Dog Theater. Recently at Theatre Three, Ms. Vela directed Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Vela also teaches at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.


Alison Pistorius (Dracula) is a Dallas Fort Worth based equity actress who performs to critical Acclaim in theaters across the country. Notable credits include Constellations, The Wolves, Sense and Sensibility, and Clybourne Park with the Dallas Theater Center; Constellations with TheatreWorks Hartford; A Midsummer Nights Dream, Othello, The House of the Spirits, When We Are Married, and A Christmas Carol with the Denver Center Theater Company. She has previously performed at Theatre Three in Adding Machine: A Musical, and The Glass Menagerie. Ms. Pistorius teaches acting in several educational institutions in the DFW metroplex, including the senior learning lab at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and she is also a PILATES instructor. She has a BA in theater and dance from the university of Texas at Austin and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory.


Gloria Vivica Benavides (Dr. Van Helsing) was last seen at Theatre Three in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She has previously appeared on stage at Dallas Theater Center (Real Women Have Curves and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit), WaterTower Theatre (A Doll's House), Stage West (Romeo and Juliet), Cara Mia Theatre (Where Earth Meets the Sky), Undermain Theatre (so go the ghosts of mexico, part two), and Ochre House Theatre (Smile, Smile Again). She serves as Manager of Education Programs at Dallas Theater Center. Gloria earned her BFA in Theatre from the University of North Texas.