Dracula
|
Scheppner, Howard
Photo by Miriam Geer
|
By Ben Miles
Now through September 29, The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum--in Topanga Canyon--is staging an appropriately atmospheric adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 story, Dracula. Director Ellen Geer headed straight to the Stoker novel in order to dramatize Dracula, creating a stage-worthy, although slightly disjointed, script from which to play.
Two readers (Melora Marshall and Mark Lewis, both ably articulate) take their center seats behind music stands on the immense and unadorned outdoor stage. The action begins as Jonathan Harker (the physically graceful and full-voiced Aaron Hendry), a recently commissioned solicitor, journeys to Transylvania to consult with Count Dracula regarding a property transaction. In a mix of dialogue and reader's theater, the gothic tale takes an epic approach as Harker quickly finds himself the prisoner of the not-so-good Count (Chad Jason Scheppner, in a remarkably agile and frightening incarnation). To make a bad trip worse, Harker is accosted by the concupiscent and blood-thirsty Brides of Dracula.
At last, Harker manages an escape from the castle and bicuspids of Count Dracula, but upon finding refuge in a convent, Harker suffers a mental collapse. Soon his fiancée, Mina Murray (the charming Willow Geer), arrives to nurture Harker back to emotional balance. Nevertheless, the blood-a-holic Drac can't resist his primal urge to suck the life fluid from other unsuspecting donors, and he has a fang for Mina's best friend, Lucy Westenra (Christina Howard in a demanding characterization).
With live music (a cello and keyboard), an original score (by Marshall McDaniel), and a cast of over two-dozen players, Dracula's tree-hour running time invests the evening with horrifying chills and well-earned thrills. It's true the creepy character Dracula does literally suck; but, dramatically speaking, that's not at all a bad thing.
Dracula plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., through September 29. The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Road in Topanga Canyon. For reservations, dial (310) 455 - 3723. For more details, visit www.theatricum.com.
|
