REVIEW: ‘Dracula’ at Classic Stage Company
Photo: Classic Stage Company’s Dracula stars, from left, Matthew Saldivar, Kelley Curran and Kate Hamill, who also adapted the play. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by press rep with permission.
NEW YORK — Classic Stage Company has decided to take a look back at two seminal horror novels and see how they might be adapted for a 2020 audience. Running in repertory through March 8 are Frankenstein and Dracula. While the Mary Shelley monster tale is minimalist and simplistic, starring only two actors, the blood-soaked story of the famous vampire is an entirely different affair, with a full cast and a full sense of fun in telling this horror-filled classic of Gothic literature.
This new Dracula is adapted by Kate Hamill, who also stars as Renfield, the tortured soul who serves as a narrator for the theatrical proceedings.
Bram Stoker’s original story is largely intact for Hamill’s adaptation, although the humor and camp are heightened on the thrust stage of the Classic Stage Company. Matthew Amendt plays the title character, a tucked-away count who lures unsuspecting victims into his dark, foreboding castle. The victim of the moment is Jonathan Harker (Michael Crane), who falls trap to the vampire and must find his way out of the labyrinth of mystery and dread.
Amendt’s Dracula is a lot of fun. He’s all style and wide-eyed stares, never instilling too much fear, but always style and panache. There’s a definite seduction at play, which is one of the central themes of the source material. He pops up all over the theater, in the audience area and around the two-tiered set.
Kelley Curran’s Mina Harker is also a standout amongst the cast members. She is perfectly matched with Crane as the two humans trying to hold on to their humanity amidst all of the vampiric blood-sucking. They never take their mission too seriously, and much of their line delivery is with a tongue firmly planted in the cheek, as if they were leads in an old Universal horror film.
Hamill’s Renfield is the true highlight. She is hilarious, creepy, vulgar and slithery as she makes her way in and out of the narrative, almost like a familiar hanging out on one’s shoulder, someone who will never go away. She is dressed in tattered rags, giving her a mummified look, but upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that she’s broken free of a straitjacket, which fits her persona and crazed demeanor.
Not everything works perfectly in this two-hour-20-minute adaptation, directed by Sarna Lapine. There are some slow spots, and the humor is intermittent, giving the impression that the production has not chosen which type of Dracula it wants to be. Is this an adaptation of Stoker’s words or a commentary track on the obvious absurdity and simultaneous effectiveness of the narrative?
Also, when two productions run in repertory, an obvious comparison will be made, and this reviewer did find Frankenstein to be more poignant and memorable. That said, there’s enough in this Dracula to sink one’s teeth into.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dracula, by Kate Hamill and based on the novel by Bram Stoker, features Hamill, Matthew Amendt, Laura Baranik, Michael Crane, Kelley Curran, Jessica Frances Dukes, Lori Laing, Jamie Ann Romero and Matthew Saldivar. Directed by Sarna Lapine. Runng time: 2 hours, 20 minutes with intermission. Running through March 8 at the Classic Stage Company in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
