by Paul Lee
During the last weekend of April, Herkimer County Community College came face to face with death and the moral-philosophical ramifications of the quest for immortality. On three consecutive nights, the HCCC Theater Group performed the play “Dracula,” a recent theatrical adaptation by Crane Johnson of Bram Stoker's classic novel.
The play was executed very well, giving a sense of professionalism that belies the amateur nature of the venue. The lighting was used subtly to great effect. The hand-painted set provided just the right amount of detail to facilitate the suspension of disbelief. The dialogue and acting appeared to flow seamlessly from start to finish during the first showing of the play.
The fact that the initial performance went through without a perceptible hitch proclaims the care and long preparation that must have gone into the play, but it ultimately is not what made the experience so immersive. It was the actors' earnest portrayal of their roles that narrowed the gap between the audience and the legendary story-world where doctors, professors, and domestic servants strive against a horrific perversion of what they held most good and natural and sacred.
One could tell this was no simple end-of-the-term student skit from the moment the “epic movie” theme music sounded before the curtains were raised. There was a brief narrative exposition, but not much information was given, and the way the narrator addressed the audience directly did not anticipate the later tempo of the drama.
Cesar Arcentales played Dr. Seward, whose skeptical practicality did not negate his earnest expressions of love and sorrow. The character confronts challenges as they come, not stopping to ask further questions after seeing what he does not like or would not be inclined to believe. As the apparent protagonist, Dr. Seward offers the audience the opportunity to face the mysterious and horrific with him through his neutral but sympathetic aura.
The counterpart to Dr. Seward is Van Helsing, played by Mary Dziekowicz. The character from the original novel may have anticipated all monster-hunter figures in popular culture, such as Sam and Dean from the current television show Supernatural. The Van Helsing of Crane Johnson's play has been re-imagined as a woman. Van Helsing's character is many-faceted – she is nonconformist and independent, intellectual (being addressed by the title of “professor”), mystical, and adventurous. Dr. Seward and Ven Helsing maintain a sporadic discussion about philosophy, science, and the paranormal, themes that are related to the main subjects of the story, but only secondarily. Those dialogs are mostly lighthearted, the sort of idle chatter that two scholars might be expected to hold in real life.
Two more down-to-earth characters help anchor the setting in history and make the whole drama more relatable. Christina Carroll played Mrs. Harker, an embodiment of Victorian propriety and piety. Jennifer Hollis played the domestic servant Abigail, whose mannerisms, expressions, and accent gave the sense of quaintness and innocent comedy associated with bygone eras. The tragic figure of the story is Lucy, played by Tess Sagatis. Lucy's character evokes thought of the romanticism associated with vampires in popular culture.
The comic relief of the story – an insane man called Renfield, played by Creighton Joscelyn – touches on deep thematic undertones. The character's demented psychological state that causes him to eat live bugs and small animals is humorous without detracting from the pervasive creepiness of the subject. Renfield's madness is driven by intense selfishness, the desire to feed himself on the life force of other living beings in order to extend his own life unnaturally. In this, Renfeild may be more evil even than Dracula (played by Geoff Fryer), who at least in some perverted sense gives a sort of life to his victims and then looks out for them. Dracula is more beastly and primitive than the charismatic vampire image in pop culture, and yet he also manages to be a heartthrob in a savage, elemental way.
The depraved selfish rantings of Renfeild work together with Van Helsing's philosophical ruminations to spin the theme and literary impact of the drama. Van Helsing openly denounces the stubborn refusal to accept one's own death that Renfeild exemplifies. The apparent moral of the story condemns the “curse of immortality, multiplying the evils of the world.” However, even Van Helsing does not blame the evil on the normal human longing for immortality. Naming various human desires for which satisfaction exists, she goes on to say, “...since there is in man this craving for eternal life, for immortality, I believe this too will be satisfied.” Van Helsing seeks to make herself immortal by influencing others through the strength of her character, rather than by destroying them.
The above-named actors were assisted by the rest of the crew to produce the immersive theatrical experience. Amanda Marro directed the play. George Woodbury was the stage hand. The props and lighting, which had an important and subtle role in the immersiveness of the whole production, were handled by Katie Burt, Sandra Gray, and Nick Streeter. Jaki was the stage and sound manager (the program lists no last name). The staff advisor was Professor Matt Powers.
It has been a hundred years since the death of the originator of the Dracula story, on April 20, 1912. The novel Dracula was published in 1897. A real critic would be necessary to consider the relationship of this college production to the true nature of the Dracula story. However, it does not take a critic to observe that the mysterious horror of Dracula has passed into immortality.
During the last weekend of April, Herkimer County Community College came face to face with death and the moral-philosophical ramifications of the quest for immortality. On three consecutive nights, the HCCC Theater Group performed the play “Dracula,” a recent theatrical adaptation by Crane Johnson of Bram Stoker's classic novel.
The play was executed very well, giving a sense of professionalism that belies the amateur nature of the venue. The lighting was used subtly to great effect. The hand-painted set provided just the right amount of detail to facilitate the suspension of disbelief. The dialogue and acting appeared to flow seamlessly from start to finish during the first showing of the play.
The fact that the initial performance went through without a perceptible hitch proclaims the care and long preparation that must have gone into the play, but it ultimately is not what made the experience so immersive. It was the actors' earnest portrayal of their roles that narrowed the gap between the audience and the legendary story-world where doctors, professors, and domestic servants strive against a horrific perversion of what they held most good and natural and sacred.
One could tell this was no simple end-of-the-term student skit from the moment the “epic movie” theme music sounded before the curtains were raised. There was a brief narrative exposition, but not much information was given, and the way the narrator addressed the audience directly did not anticipate the later tempo of the drama.
Cesar Arcentales played Dr. Seward, whose skeptical practicality did not negate his earnest expressions of love and sorrow. The character confronts challenges as they come, not stopping to ask further questions after seeing what he does not like or would not be inclined to believe. As the apparent protagonist, Dr. Seward offers the audience the opportunity to face the mysterious and horrific with him through his neutral but sympathetic aura.
The counterpart to Dr. Seward is Van Helsing, played by Mary Dziekowicz. The character from the original novel may have anticipated all monster-hunter figures in popular culture, such as Sam and Dean from the current television show Supernatural. The Van Helsing of Crane Johnson's play has been re-imagined as a woman. Van Helsing's character is many-faceted – she is nonconformist and independent, intellectual (being addressed by the title of “professor”), mystical, and adventurous. Dr. Seward and Ven Helsing maintain a sporadic discussion about philosophy, science, and the paranormal, themes that are related to the main subjects of the story, but only secondarily. Those dialogs are mostly lighthearted, the sort of idle chatter that two scholars might be expected to hold in real life.
Two more down-to-earth characters help anchor the setting in history and make the whole drama more relatable. Christina Carroll played Mrs. Harker, an embodiment of Victorian propriety and piety. Jennifer Hollis played the domestic servant Abigail, whose mannerisms, expressions, and accent gave the sense of quaintness and innocent comedy associated with bygone eras. The tragic figure of the story is Lucy, played by Tess Sagatis. Lucy's character evokes thought of the romanticism associated with vampires in popular culture.
The comic relief of the story – an insane man called Renfield, played by Creighton Joscelyn – touches on deep thematic undertones. The character's demented psychological state that causes him to eat live bugs and small animals is humorous without detracting from the pervasive creepiness of the subject. Renfield's madness is driven by intense selfishness, the desire to feed himself on the life force of other living beings in order to extend his own life unnaturally. In this, Renfeild may be more evil even than Dracula (played by Geoff Fryer), who at least in some perverted sense gives a sort of life to his victims and then looks out for them. Dracula is more beastly and primitive than the charismatic vampire image in pop culture, and yet he also manages to be a heartthrob in a savage, elemental way.
The depraved selfish rantings of Renfeild work together with Van Helsing's philosophical ruminations to spin the theme and literary impact of the drama. Van Helsing openly denounces the stubborn refusal to accept one's own death that Renfeild exemplifies. The apparent moral of the story condemns the “curse of immortality, multiplying the evils of the world.” However, even Van Helsing does not blame the evil on the normal human longing for immortality. Naming various human desires for which satisfaction exists, she goes on to say, “...since there is in man this craving for eternal life, for immortality, I believe this too will be satisfied.” Van Helsing seeks to make herself immortal by influencing others through the strength of her character, rather than by destroying them.
The above-named actors were assisted by the rest of the crew to produce the immersive theatrical experience. Amanda Marro directed the play. George Woodbury was the stage hand. The props and lighting, which had an important and subtle role in the immersiveness of the whole production, were handled by Katie Burt, Sandra Gray, and Nick Streeter. Jaki was the stage and sound manager (the program lists no last name). The staff advisor was Professor Matt Powers.
It has been a hundred years since the death of the originator of the Dracula story, on April 20, 1912. The novel Dracula was published in 1897. A real critic would be necessary to consider the relationship of this college production to the true nature of the Dracula story. However, it does not take a critic to observe that the mysterious horror of Dracula has passed into immortality.
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