You may think you know the story of Dracula, arguably Halloween’s most iconic monster, but a new production in Prince George is turning the classic into a funny farce.
Dracula: The Bloody Truth is taking over the Theatre NorthWest stage starting this week with a cast of actors that will wear multiple hats themselves over the course of the near-two hour play.
The plot is told through the perspective of Abraham Van Helsing, who believes Bram Stoker’s original Dracula adventure is a lie.
Creating a play within a play, the Amsterdam professor hires three actors to help portray the dangers of encountering vampires.
Christy Bruce, one of the four actors involved, felt compelled to come to Prince George after reading the script from director Craig Hall.
“The frivolity of four people just pulling off this incredible feat of accents and costumes and props, and the story of Dracula is classic,” said Bruce to PrinceGeorgeMatters today (Oct. 23), believing patrons will likely be shocked and laughing out loud at the same time based on previous shows before arriving in B.C.’s north.
“Like all original horror stories, including Frankenstein and all of that, this kind of tap into deep human fears, which I think, especially this time of year, is so gray. The fact that you can also laugh a ton I think kind of a perfect marriage.”
The 45-year-old mother from Calgary has been acting for nearly three decades, and is taking on up to 15 different roles in Dracula.
Fortunately, she’s spent the last eight years with an improv troupe, which helps her tackle those multiple personalities.
“I’ve done farces before, so this is like part-farce, part-Bram Stoker’s Dracula. So then, of course, in all farces, things go wrong and fall apart. We try to keep the show going. [...] Each has their own accent and their own gender; I play men and women, and so at the beginning, I’d be halfway through a scene and realize during rehearsal that I was doing the wrong accent or the wrong gender. It’s just all about getting it in your body and doing it over. Costumes help with that too.”
Bruce is looking forward to feeding off of reactions in the local theatre as past shows have taken the audience through a whirlwind of emotions.
She adds even she can get a little skittish while remaining focused on the task of delivering a memorable performance.
“I’m very easily scared,” Bruce explained with a chuckle. “So there are a couple of moments there for me that are jumpy, so there’s that little aspect to throw in there as well. I rarely scream on stage, but there have been moments where people in the audience have screamed a little bit or they jump. There’s nothing too too scary though, you know, kids can come watch it as well.”
Today’s rehearsal was the first time the Dracula cast has set foot in Theatre NorthWest.
The curtain will rise for Dracula: The Bloody Truth tomorrow night (Oct. 24) at 8 p.m. and runs until Nov. 10.
For tickets and more information, you can go to the Theatre NorthWest website.
