Over 120 years ago in Bram Stoker’s seminal work of fiction, the incarnate of evil, Count Dracula, terrorized his birthplace and then set his sights on the streets of London. The story continues to capture the imagination and vampire stories titillate and spur the speculation of eternal life, beauty and youth.
The Adams State University Theatre program will open the 2018/2019 season with the original blood-thirsty predator, Dracula by Steven Dietz and directed by Jenna Neilsen, professor of theatre. The suspense will be released on audiences beginning September 21 on the San Luis Valley Federal Bank Main Stage, located in the Adams State Theatre Building. Tickets go on sale at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, at the ASU Theatre Box Office.
“I chose Dracula, because I wanted to do something that reconnected me with one of the reasons why we do theatre – for the love of the theatrical,” Neilsen said. “Dracula, like all horror escapism, takes the audience on a safe but exciting journey.”
Although Neilsen does not seek out scary movies as a fan, she wanted to push herself as an artist and produce “a genre I am less comfortable with. I buy into the philosophy that as artists we should do that which pushes us out of our comfort zone.”
Dracula, a popular title with box office cache, intrigued Neilsen. She spent time this summer reading about what makes suspense work on stage, reading vampire books, and watching versions of Dracula and similar television shows and movies. “Preparing for this play, I have learned how to make edible non-staining blood and took dental impressions of students. It is the beauty of theatre, to do something different every single day.”
Neilsen worked closely with David Gerke, assistant professor of theatre, with the technical aspects. “Dracula relies upon sound- and light-scape and lots of special effects, including fog, flames, actors appearing or disappearing, staking effects, and, of course, lots of blood.” She contacted an Adams State theatre alumna, Jackie McCann Tirrell, who works with a dental prosthetics company. “I asked her to make the fangs, which have to look real, be wearable and easily removable.”
The playwright, Dietz, bases the two acts on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He took a lot of original text, and, like the book, the story jumps back and forth in time. The major players are from Stoker’s original including the count as both a young seductive Dracula and an old man, the free-spirited Lucy Westenra, the pure Mina Murray, the intellectual Dr. Seward, the solicitor Mr. Harker, the crazy Renfield and Abraham Van Helsing, the expert on all old world subjects.
“The original novel is an adventure and quest story,” Neilsen added. “And the play is as well. It is an exciting challenge. Will good win over evil in the race against time?”
Neilsen directed the play set in 1890s Victorian England viewed through the lens of 2018. “Any supernatural tale already takes us out of the world of realism. While the play harkens to the time periods, we are not beholden to them.”
She also worked to expand the traditional roles of the female cast. “The visual and performance art world has for centuries cast women into two archetypes, the wanton woman or the chaste/virginal woman. Stoker’s Dracula reinforced this singular dichotomy through the two female characters.” Therefore, in addition to Lucy and Mina being cast as women, Neilsen also cast both Renfield and Van Helsing as female. “I want to begin a conversation about how we cast women in society, as well as expand our construct of what it means to identify as female.”
The play will include two acts with one ten minute intermission. The play does not contain nudity or profanity, however, due to sexual content, violence, and lots of blood, Neilsen recommends the play for mature audiences. Public performances of Dracula begin at 7:30 p.m. September 21 and continue nightly on September 22, 28 and 29. A matinee performance begins at 2 p.m. Sept. 30.
Tickets go on sale September 10 and are $10 for general public, $9 for seniors and students, and free to Associated Students and Faculty with current Adams State identification. The Box Office is open from 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets may also be reserved by calling 719-587-8499.
Article by Linda Relyea
