At a recent evening rehearsal at the Wright Auditorium, the stage was set for a student production of Dracula. The props were simple: a table in one corner, a bench in the other, and curtains lining the walls of the stage.
It was the actors who commanded the room, telling the story of Dracula: A woman named Lucy Seward is mysteriously ill. Her father and fiancé worry over her condition as medical treatments seem to fail her. When a botanist and monster hunter named Van Helsing gets called in, she thinks there could be something more than sickness at work.
Director and high school drama teacher Elsa Wintersteen said this production won’t be identical to the book.
“The playwright took some liberties, changed around relationships, cut some characters out, really just tried to simplify it for the stage, because the book is very grand in scope,” Wintersteen said. “You’re moving across the continent, and there’s all sorts of things that would be very hard to represent on stage.”
But Wintersteen said theatergoers will still find there’s a lot of overlap with the novel.
“I would say, the air of the play is very much the same,” she said. “Dracula is still this threatening, but at the same time alluring, sort of monster. And everyone else is, it seems like, always one step behind Dracula.”
Senior Payton Dreisbach plays Dr. Seward, a mental hospital owner and Lucy’s father. He said this production will be more serious than the school’s previous ones.
“A lot of them have been, if not entirely, at least half of a comedy,” Dreisbach said. “But this one’s more melodramatic-serious.”
Another big change for the theater department will be that the cast of 10, along with one stage manager, will be taking Dracula on the road next summer. The production will be heading to Edinburgh, Scotland, to perform at the world’s largest performing arts festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Years ago, Wintersteen heard about a program that would bring American high school theater groups to Edinburgh to be a part of the festival. She wanted to see if her students could apply.
“We have a lot of great things going for us already, but what can I do to get them out into the world of theater and meeting other artists, seeing what theater can be?” Wintersteen said. “I was like, I wonder, is that even a possibility?”
Since the group got accepted to the festival, the students have been working hard to fundraise for the trip. Ticket sales from the performance will go toward that fund.
For senior Remi Tolkachova, who plays the monster hunter Van Helsing, the chance to take this play abroad is a major opportunity.
“To share that with people from all across the world, and like in Europe, that’s so cool,” Tolkachova said. “It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The performers have been working hard for months to prepare for the show. Torey Fry, who plays Lucy Seward, said a lot of effort has gone into setting the atmosphere of the play.
“We’re using a lot of, like, lighting to make the moods, which is really cool. And we definitely show it with our characters, too,” she said. “We’ve worked a lot on screaming, because there’s some of that in the play.”
Stage manager and senior Heidi Brantuas had a pitch for anyone on the fence about attending.
“People should come because, first off, you’re supporting the arts. It’s a great community to support. We’re often represented very highly, but not very supported,” Brantuas said. “It’s just gonna be a lot of fun. You’re not gonna expect a lot of what comes at you. It feels very raw if you haven’t seen it before.”
Tickets to see Dracula are $10 and can be purchased from the performers, the high school front desk, or at Lee’s Clothing. Dracula runs from Thursday, Nov. 6 through Saturday, Nov. 8, and the show starts at 7 p.m.
