Review: DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY at Portland Center Stage

While Portland’s fabulous Liberace and Liza impersonators are serving up holiday cheer downstairs in the Ellen Bye Studio, something a little less traditional is taking place upstairs on the mainstage. DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY is not exactly your typical holiday entertainment for the entire family, but it’s also not entirely out of step with a season that has its share of darkness.

This Dracula is the latest adaptation by Kate Hamill to be seen at Portland Center Stage, following last season’s MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON - APT. 2B. Like with the previous show, Hamill uses gender-swapping and humor to offer up a fresh perspective on well-known characters and biting commentary about the society that they (and we) inhabit.

The original Dracula is a horror-thriller full of sexual undertones, religious-like fanaticism, and a good dose of misogyny. Hamill ratchets up the sex and fanaticism, while ditching the misogyny. These women are not just helpless beings for men to order around and have their way with – they’re smart, capable women who recognize predators of all kinds for what they are, and who aren’t afraid to fight back against toxic masculinity in all of its forms.

Watching some of Portland’s best local talent take on these roles is the highlight of the show. In a far cry from her usual roles, Nikki Weaver shines as Renfield, who has been mentally enslaved by Dracula (a scary and seductive Setareki Wainiqolo) and now lives in an insane asylum praying for him to come back and give her eternal life. In the original, Renfield was just another power-hungry man; in this one, she’s a woman with a history of falling for abusive and manipulative men.

Sammy Rat Rios has become one of the names I’m most excited to see in playbills, and she absolutely kills it (literally) in the role of Lucy, who has to pretend to be dumb so she won’t be a threat to her actually clueless fiance, Dr. George Seward (played perfectly by Darius Pierce). It’s hard to blame her for entertaining a nighttime tryst with a vampire – women didn’t have good choices back then.

Cycerli Ash, who plays vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, enters the show like a wrecking ball. Loud, brash, and dressed like a cowboy, she suffers no fools. But she also knows she can’t defeat Dracula by herself, so she enlists a pregnant Mina Harker (Ashley Song), who is in danger of losing her sweet husband (La’Tevin Alexander) to Dracula’s siren song of power. Last, but in no way least, Treasure Lunan and Jamie M. Rea are positively terrifying as Dracula’s wives, who flip the script on the theme of sexual predation.

The flaw in DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY, is that Hamill seemed to run out of clever ideas about halfway through. Act one is scary and funny and fresh – I was on the edge of my seat and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. From comments I heard at intermission, I was not the only one feeling an electric thrill. But the second act, which should have been even more thrilling – vampire hunting! – instead slowly deflated as lines and jokes were repeated. I like a good callback, but not many jokes can survive four tellings.

Overall, if you don't want to hear another Christmas carol, DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY may be the wild and refreshing alternative you’re looking for. And this production is certainly full of great performances. It runs at Portland Center Stage through Dec. 24. More details and tickets here.

Photo credit: Shawnte Sims / courtesy of Portland Center Stage

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