Relentlessly creepy 'Dracula' can become draining
(Courtesy)
The first hour of director Blake Montgomery's production of "Dracula" is so stunning in every aspect of its artistry that it easily seduced me into following Bram Stoker's familiar yet strangely compelling world of vampires, twisted eroticism (and exoticism) and disturbing transfer of bodily fluids.
I confess that Stoker's classic story generally leaves me cold (and confused). But this live production, created by and for the Building Stage, initially keeps the threads of the story tightly woven while also ingeniously conjuring the mysterious mix of travel and captivity, sickness and health, terror and release that are a crucial part of the tale.
Performed in the style of a black-and-white silent film (with vivid splotches of bloody red) and brilliantly scored with the ominous music of Dmitri Shostakovich (an inspired choice), the haunting and haunted worlds of Victorian England and the mountains of Transylvania have been captured in all their gloominess and shadowy starkness. And the show's cast of eight engages in a form of subtly choreographed stage movement that is as disciplined and expressive as that in any ballet.
Unfortunately, while the novelty and hypnotic beauty of the show's first 45 or 50 minutes could not be more impressive, the spell begins to wear very thin as the story unwinds in the second act. Ultimately, there are just too many neck bites, too many stakes hammered into too many chests, too many transfusions and too many plot turns (blame Stoker for the latter), and the story's creepy repetitiveness becomes draining.
Yet there is no denying the splendid overall artistry here, or the wish that the whole production might be whittled down to a single intermissionless hour of perfection.
The actors are sublime: the Lulu-like vixen Lucy (wide-eyed Stephanie Polt); her odd assortment of suitors, all deftly played (by Jeremy Cohn, Austin Oie and Nick Freed); the Teutonic-mannered Professor Van Helsing (Christopher Hibbard); the wan but steely Nina Harker (a wonderfully fragile, eccentric Meghan Reardon); her even more ravaged husband, Jonathan (Bries Vannon), and the fearsome, volatile madman Mr. Renfield (Ned Record).
The show's design is extraordinary, with a set by Brandon Wardell and Jessica Kuehnau (heightened by the eerily sepulchral lighting of Aaron Weissman) that depends heavily on a series of movable muslin curtains. The curtains suggest both a clinic and the layers of nightmares and psychological terrors that are a crucial part of this gothic tale.
Montgomery's marvelously crafted vision owes a debt to "Nosferatu," the great 1922 silent film by the German expressionist F.W. Murnau, and there is a hint of today's graphic novels injected into the mix. Making all this work on a live stage is no small feat, and the absolute rigor of Montgomery's vision is mightily impressive. Catch the first 60 minutes and you will not be disappointed.
NOTE: Court Theatre's exceptionally fine production of "Caroline, or Change," the musical by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori -- directed by Charles Newell and starring E. Faye Butler -- has enjoyed record-breaking ticket sales since it opened, so a week of performances (through Oct. 26) have been added to the run. For tickets, call (773) 753-4472 or visit www.courttheatre.org