BY
Steven Dietz

FROM THE NOVEL BY
Bram Stoker

DIRECTED BY
Kirsten Trump

SCENIC DESIGNERS
William Pierson and Gavin Sexton*

LIGHTING DESIGNER
Angela Menoyo*

COSTUME DESIGNER
Lydia Chamberlain*

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
David Steinmetz

SOUND DESIGNER
Anna Alex

COMPOSER
Chris Inman

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Lindsey Harford*

*in partial fulfullment of a B.F.A. in Theatre Design & Production

Thursday, September 30 – Sunday, October 3, 2021
Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre,
Shenandoah Conservatory

Dracula is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service (DPS). 

CAST

Lucy Isabelle Howley
Seward Jacob Aguglia
Mina Madison Johnstone
Harker Nick Villacorte
Van Helsing Javere Green
Dracula Diego Murillo
Renfield Cydney Kutcipal
Vixens Kirsten Couly, Amy Hale, Maggy Jenkins, Taylor Stevens, Shaunghnessy Swails, Noah Ratgen
Maids Lisa Arnold, Ariel Fischer
Attendants John Cardona, Maxwell Castellano, Austin Harger, Gannon Thomas

Understudies

(Understudies will never substitute for regular players unless announced)

Lucy Kirsten Couly
Seward Max Castellano
Mina Maggie Jenkins
Harker Gannon Thomas
Van Helsing Ariel Fischer
Dracula Amy Hale
Renfield Taylor Stevens

Production Team

Fight Choreographer and Intimacy Coach Kit Wilder
Fight Captain Noah Ratgen
Dialect Coach Kirsten Trump
Assistant Stage Managers, Tori Baker, Gabby Wiatrak 
Assistant Costume Designer Sam McQuiston
Illustrator/Assistant Costume Designer Lindsey Barshick
Costume Design Mentor Jennifer Flitton Adams
Master Electrician Braxton Cooper
Lighting Design Mentor Andrew Carson
Composition Mentor Jonathan Newman
Assistant Technical Director Joe Graham
Properties Masters Julia Liebowitz, Rachael Severts
Master Carpenter Rich Adams
Run Crew Rebecca Briant, Brianna Jarvis, Gracie Keener, Emma Kornmeyer, Clark Van Beek
Costume Crew Leads Tyson Francis, Vicky Kobelka 
Costume Crew Michaela Brayboy, Larissa Culbertson, Liam Heyl, Bree Links
Light Board Operator Katie Forbes
A1 Sound Engineer Maggie Waite
A2 Sound Engineer Salem Turner
Costume Shop Manager Chloe Moore
Lighting Shop Manager Myka Ahlemann
Scene Shop Manager James Raymond

Division Leadership

Program Leaders Jennifer Flitton Adams (Technical Design & Production), Carolyn Coulson (Acting), Kevin Covert (Musical Theatre)
Operations Manager Elizabeth Albert 

Show Rating: PG-13

Be advised, this production contains theatrical haze/fog and flashing lighting effects.

Dear Patron,

Welcome back to Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre. Welcome back to live performance. And welcome to the Shenandoah Conservatory production of Dracula. 

As you can imagine, we have been elated to be back in the rehearsal room, the drafting room, the scenic and costume shops and the sound studio, creating this production. We are ‘all in’ for this haunted rollercoaster ride with you, our audience. And because you are here, we know that you are ‘all in’, as well!

What is it about Dracula that lures us back again and again? For me, my fascination began through my father’s love of the late night black and white horror movies with Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and Boris Karloff. I knew I was safe with my dad there, but the dark windows to the outside scared me and I needed to be walked down the dark hallway to my bedroom after watching, for fear of passing doors and wondering what lurked behind them. 

Steven Deitz’ adaptation of Bram Stoker’s timeless character frights and delights in all the right places. We are swept along, often breathless, in this journey through the dark to fight evil, to break the spell of seduction and to, ultimately, save the world from the shadowy monster.

Perhaps that is the deepest appeal for all of us — the quest for triumph over evil!

My deepest gratitude to our whole creative team, our ensemble of cast and crew, our management and marketing team. They have been tenacious and relentless to build this world and to tell this tale. 

And thank you for being here with us live and in-person! It means everything.

Enjoy the show.

– Kirsten Trump

Stoker's Modern Monster

Contributed by English Literature faculty members Adjunct Assistant Professor Ginger Garver and Associate Professor Sarah Canfield

Bram Stoker had strong connections to the theater of his era. Were we to travel to late Victorian London and inquire about him, we would be told that he was the “actors’ manager” at the Lyceum Theatre. Stoker worked with the superstars of the age, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. Not until 1897 did Stoker make his mark as a writer with Dracula. The author loved drama and theatricality, from his childhood fascination with Irish fairy tales and folk tales to his work as a critic, beginning in his days at Trinity College. Over the years, critics have noted that his famous novel, never out of print and wildly popular, contains many scenes that seem meant to be staged.

These scenes are populated by recognizable people and places drawn from modern London: the lawyers, scientists, and secretaries who traverse Picadilly Circus and visit the London Zoo. While Dracula emerges from an ancient “imaginative whirlpool” of superstition at the edge of the British empire, he aims to remake himself as a thoroughly cosmopolitan creature and take up residence in the empire’s heart. The novel stages itself as a contest between the surging, primitive, insatiable hunger of the vampire for everything new and the forces of modern technology that our heroes use to confound him.

The rapid scene changes in this play are the theatrical equivalent of the up-to-the-minute records that make up the text of the novel, which include shorthand diaries, newspaper clippings, and wax cylinder phonograph recordings. Dracula moves so quickly that Harker, Mina, Seward, and Van Helsing must interrupt their note-taking repeatedly to deal with his threats. Will modern psychiatry, blood transfusions, and the judicious application of wooden stakes prevent the corruption and consumption of humanity?

The irony, of course, is that the tools of modernity that we deploy to control the vampire are the very things that have brought him to us in the first place. This can best be seen in Dracula’s fascination with Mina. Mina is the quintessential modern woman; she has studied shorthand and typing so she can join the professional working world. Her skills are necessary to the fight against Dracula, but they also make her a tempting and vulnerable target for his predations.

We tend to forget, now that Dracula’s children have so permeated popular culture, the intense terror he represents and the desperation he provokes. Modern life exposes all of us to new technologies, new experiences, new possibilities — but as it stokes our desire for newness, we wonder if those desires can ever be truly satisfied. Can we find peace with each other, or like the restless undead, will we be forever searching for more?

Please join us for a pre-show discussion at 1:30PM in Ruebush Hall, Room 128 on Sunday, October 3 with members of the faculty from Shenandoah University's College of Arts and Sciences.

Pre-show Discussion

Sunday, October 3 at 1:30PM
Ruebush Hall, Room 128

Please join us for a pre-show discussion with members of the faculty from Shenandoah University's College of Arts and Sciences to dive deeper into the world of Dracula.

($250–500)

Warren & Mary Hofstra

($150–249)

William & Virginia Groah

($1–149)

Jacqueline & Ray Snouffer

Donors as of September 24, 2021

Thank you for your continued support!

Support Theatre at
Shenandoah Conservatory >

Contact Shenandoah Conservatory Director of Development Melanie L. Mathewes at (540) 665-4733 or mmathewe@su.edu for more information or other ways to give.

Shenandoah University is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All gifts are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

When you join the Shenandoah Conservatory Dean’s Circle, your annual member support helps Shenandoah Conservatory address the costs of excellence in performing arts training, equipping state-of-the-art facilities, hiring world-class faculty, and fostering experimental and creative student projects.

Join Now >

Shenandoah Conservatory is grateful to the 2021/22 Dean's Circle members for supporting our creative community of artists, scholars and educators.

Meet the Dean's Circle >

To learn more about joining the Dean’s Circle and the other ways you can make a transformative gift to Shenandoah Conservatory visit www.su.edu/performs/support or contact:

Melanie L. Mathewes
Shenandoah Conservatory Director of Development
mmathewe@su.edu  |  (540) 665-4733

Shenandoah University is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.