Just in time for dark nights of swirling leaves, Neptune Theatre is staging Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, a seriously-crafted piece of silliness and a wild comic ride through Bram Stoker’s classic tale.
The 90-minute romp, on the main stage through Oct. 25, stars Allie MacDonald in an unforgettable, chest-baring performance as an over-sexed, vainglorious Dracula with beautiful hair and an inability to pronounce “w” as anything other than “v.”
This play demands a highly unifed, physically-fit ensemble with a passion for theatrics and a skill for comic timing and rapidfire pacing in door-slamming farce and Keystone Cops routines. Director Jeremy Webb has found a quintet of highly-skilled, fun-loving actors right at home and they are more than willing to run this madcap marathon with him.
American writers Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen describe their play on their website Greenberg & Rosen (not a law firm): “Ever wondered what would happen if you took Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire tale and put it in a blender with the comedic influences of Mel Brooks, Monty Python and the 39 Steps? Well we did it. And now our kitchen is a mess, but the results are scarily funny.”
The writers playfully wink at their audience in a mashup of wordplay, pop-culture references and physical comedy with all due respect to the essential plot points of the original.
Hugh Ritchie, who starred in Two Planks and A Passion Theatre’s production of The Wind Coming Over the Sea this summer, is perfectly crisp as Jonathan Harker, the uptight, cowardly British real estate agent and fiancee of Lucy, while Becca Guilderson, who starred opposite Ritchie in The Wind Coming Over the Sea, is the lovely, courageous, forthright Lucy played as a wonderful, classic heroine with lots of derring-do and an intolerance for nonsense.
Stephanie MacDonald is hilarious as both Lucy’s serious father Dr. Westfeldt and the spider-eatting butler Renfield. A large part of the comedy is her quicksilver transformation from one to the other with the stage mechanics highly and ever-increasingly visible.
Just as MacDonald’s Dracula owes a lot to Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ryan Rogerson version of Lucy’s less attractive, attention-seeking sister Mina could be an ugly stepsister in a pantomime of Cinderella. Rogerson also brings a unique energy to Dr. Jean Van Helsing, the vampire hunter, played as a powerful, brilliant, Nordic woman – talk about gender bending!
The play also asks a lot from its design team in terms of coordinating sound, designed by Jeremy Webb, and lighting for a fast, fluid and funny delivery. Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors has a gothic, storybook set designed by Lucas Arab in rich purples and tilting shapes. Leigh Ann Vardy’s lighting is flashy, melodramatic and inky purple and black when necessary. The coordination of lights and dry smoke when Dracula enters manically flapping his cape is quite something.
JB Nelles has a period costume design that amplifies and states the characters without overdoing it except intentionally for Mina in her searing yellows. Intimacy direction is by Samantha Wilson with stage management by Jenn Hewitt and Gina Woodward.
I’m not sure how they’ve all done it – oodles of energy drinks? – because this production races along flawlessly from start to finish as pure entertainment. Tickets ranging from $35 to $70 are at (902) 429-7070 or online at neptunetheatre.com. Performances run Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a masked performance Sunday, Oct. 11, 2 p.m.; a talkback Oct. 15, 7.30 p.m., and an audio described performance Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors comes with a Content Advisory: “This production contains fog and haze, frequent flashing lights, loud noises and music, mature themes, occasional strong language, sexual innuendo, fangs, dodgy British accents, and, somehow, even more fog. This show may not be suitable for individuals with Chiroptophobia.”
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Tags: allie-macdonald, becca-guilderson, dracula, dracula-a-comedy-of-terrors, horror, hugh-ritchie, neptune-theatre, reviews, ryan-rogerson, stephanie-macdonald, theatre
We could all do with some cheering up – I am looking forward to seeing this!
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