This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/23/2020 11:00 PMDespite COVID, a cast of eleven BHS students are working up a virtual production of DRACULA, THE VAMPIRE PLAY by Tim Kelly.
Maria Ogren and John Matthiessen began the project in September, holding auditions outside with masks and distancing, and rehearsals have been taking place online. The play will be performed online on December 4, 2020.
Translating their usual onstage work to a virtual medium has been challenging: how to indicate entrances and exits, work out costume changes, and create the ominous feel of a vampire-haunted sanatorium without scenery and minimal musical underscoring or special effects has been difficult, but the cast remains enthusiastic. Two are even playing two roles.
The play is based on the Bram Stoker novel of 1897. The author was intrigued by the exploits in the 1400's of Vlad III, a prince who fought the Turkish domination of his Transylvanian region. Vlad's father had been nicknamed Dracul -- meaning "devil." Thus, Vlad III was called Dracula, the son of the devil.
The tale of a small group of people isolated in an old estate awaiting nightly visitations from an unseen terror that leaves its victims weak unto death is eerily similar to what people around the world are experiencing right now. Count Dracula becomes a metaphor for whatever evil influences you most fear: be it a personality who embodies "the darker side of man's nature," or perhaps the deadly pandemic itself and the isolation which we hope will keep us safe. Perhaps our greatest concern is the disruption of our lives over the past months, our personal losses, or the feeling that all we can muster to battle the evils we sense around us is a bunch of garlic.
Members of the cast include: Kyle Bissell as Dr. Van Helsing, vampire-killer; Aditya Rajpurahit as Count Dracula (and Grimm); Lexi Brown as Lucy Westenra, Dracula's victim (and Miss Anya); Ian MacDougal as Jonathan Harker; Morgan Selander as Mina Harker; Isabella DiSorbo as Mrs. Fern; and Levi Burger as Arthur Holmwood; Matt Cabahug as Renfield; Louis Brodsky Dr. Quincy; Pranavi Limbu as Mrs. Westenra; and Brianna Flood as Nurse Cassidy.
A link for those who wish the view the play will be at https://livestream.com/accounts/23560511/events/9415905