Twin Cities Horror Festival XV Reviews 3 The New Batch: There’s Room For One Thousand More and Evidence: Silence Experiments

It was the best of times is was the worst of times. Hello faithful readers, I’m back with reviews of two more shows running at this years Twin Cities Horror Festival. One is undoubtably one of the best of the festival, the other the worst. The festival runs through Oct 31st and it’s the perfect way to celebrate Monster Month. Here is a link to the festival website so you can get all the details: https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

There’s Room for One Thousand is one of the most elaborate shows I’ve ever seen at the TCHF. Set in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World, the show begins the minute you are ushered into the theater, where you suddenly become a guest about to take the ride. Just like the actual ride, everyone is ushered into the center of the stage, surrounded by the portraits from the Haunted Mansion. Then we hear the voice of Paul Frees, who is heard throughout, narrating the ride. The portraits stretch as they do in the ride, and after the intro, we are told to make our way to the ride cars, our seats.

We meet three employees who have earned the reward of getting to stay overnight in the Haunted Mansion, but you can be sure there is more to this than a reward for being such good employees. The characters move through the rooms of the mansion, where moments from the ride are reproduced with astonishing accuracy, especially considering that a TCHF production requires everything in the show to be loaded in and out in 10 minutes.

Writer Tim Wicks’ affection for the ride shines through, as does his creativity. This is such a beautiful blend of design and script. Every element, from the wallpaper on the mansion’s walls to the employees’ costumes, feels authentic. The realizations of characters from the ride, like Madame Leota, the head in the crystal ball in the séance room, and the puppet of the Hat Box Ghost, which is twice the size of the human cast and looks like it was Imagineered at Disney, are astonishing.

This is now the show most likely to be the best of the festival. There is one performance left that is not quite sold out, on Halloween at 6:00 p.m. I urge anyone who has ever been on the Haunted Mansion ride to get to that last performance. I hope this will not be creator Tim Wicks’ final show, he is dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis, but if it is, he is going out on a high note, one he should be immensely proud of.

The description for Evidence: Silence Experiments says there is a suicide cult and that 11 people disappeared. Five bodies were found; six never were. That sounds interesting. I have no idea what that has to do with what I just saw.

This is one of the most aggressively inaccessible shows I’ve seen at TCHF. Essentially, it’s a music show with visual elements that are utterly pointless. There are three performers in the show, including Roberto Kerry, who plays music and sings. The other two alternate between speak-singing while music is being played and using a digital camera and projector to display washed-out images of photos and drawings and written words on a screen that cannot be seen well enough to discern what is on it..

There are moments when some of the music is enjoyable, but as you’re listening to it, you’re watching one of the other performers put images in front of the camera that cannot be seen and writing that cannot be read. They also, at times, use a marker to doodle on the paper or photos and, for good measure, drag electronic cords in front of the camera.

One of the final lines of the show was “Please stop,” and my only thought was, they read my mind.

This is a touring show. Someone mentioned that it was from North Dakota, where I grew up. The performers are young, and I imagine they get a certain thrill from alienating the audience or being misunderstood by the aged white CIS man in the audience.

The best way to enjoy the show is to close your eyes, ignore any and all visual elements, and let the music wash over you. But be careful. You definitely run the risk of falling asleep, there is a hypnotic aspect to the music.

If you avoid only one show at this horror fest, this should probably be it. I think Kerry has real musical talent; I just wish it had been in the service of something understandable.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the new website 79 Seconds on Stage a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

Don’t rely on Facebook or Instagram algorithms to keep you in the loop about great shows. Subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN delivered straight to your inbox. It’s the best way to make sure you never miss out on the theater action. To subscribe on a computer, enter your email address on the home page (right-hand side) and click subscribe. On mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the same option. You can also follow me on Facebook @thestagesofmn and on Instagram thestagesofmn.

The Stages of MN YouTube channel is home to the Stages of MN Show. You can watch it by clicking here. Be sure to check out the latest episodes and subscribe so you’ll always know when a new one drops. Not sure you agree with one of my takes? I’m also part of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can find review roundups from my colleagues and me. Follow us on Facebook at @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers.

Twelve Angry Men at Lyric Arts is Guilty of Being Terrific Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

I first encountered 12 Angry Men in the seventh grade. We watched the film version in English class. I’m not sure why, but as a kid who grew up on black-and-white movies, I took to it immediately. It’s one of those films I go back to every five or six years for another screening, one I’ve probably purchased in every format I’ve collected over the years: VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and Blu-ray. This is the second stage adaptation I’ve seen, following the musical version from Theatre Latté Da a few years back. Watching Twelve Angry Men today reinforced my feelings that this is a story that doesn’t lend itself well to the musical form. As with the film, this is a fast-paced, no-frills, emotionally raw, and tense drama. Coming in at a lean 85 minutes with no intermission, the play speeds by, with the drama steadily ticking upward like the mercury in the thermometer measuring the increasing heat of the unairconditioned jury room. Lyric Arts’ production hits the mark with an exceptional cast who quickly and believably deliver twelve distinct personalities.

Twelve Angry Men is set in a Chicago city courthouse on a particularly hot day, in the 1950s, I assume, based on the set design and costuming. The play opens with a voice-over of a judge giving the jury their instructions, reminding them that if there is reasonable doubt in their minds that the defendant committed the crime he is being tried for, they must vote not guilty. With no air conditioning, nerves are already raw as the twelve jurors file into the room to deliberate on a murder trial in which a nineteen-year-old Black man is accused of murdering his father. Based on the conversations as they take their places around a long rectangular table, it seems like they are all of the opinion that it is an open-and-shut case and that the boy is guilty. They take a vote immediately and discover that there is one vote for not guilty. The next 80 minutes or so have the characters debating the case, with Juror 8, the holdout, slowly convincing others that there is reasonable doubt.

The case is intriguing, and the debate about the details of the crime and the questioning of the evidence are great, entertaining stuff. And to be sure, the play works as a tense, thriller-esque drama, but it is really about something larger: it is a microcosm of our society. Sometimes we think we have evolved and become more enlightened than previous generations, or at least we used to. The last decade has revealed that we are closer to the world these twelve jurors inhabit than we once thought. For those interested in looking beyond the entertaining story, there are themes of institutional racism, racism, ageism, and the ways in which our own personal pasts inform how we project onto others.

The cast is solid, with several standouts. As the two ends of the guilty/not guilty spectrum, David Denninger as Juror 3, who is convinced the boy is guilty because of his anger at his own son, and Davin Grindstaff as Juror 8, who feels that before you pass judgment on a man’s life, you should at least discuss it for a little bit, are great sparring partners. Dominic Delong-Rodgers is exceptional as the logical Juror 4, never losing his buttoned-up, emotionless cool while broadcasting intelligence and a sense of fair play. He holds out until close to the very end, but not out of prejudice or personal baggage. Instead, he is weighing all the facts, and one can almost see the scales of justice in his mind and know that if the evidence shifts enough and the scales tip toward reasonable doubt, he will vote accordingly. Abdoul Kondo, as Juror 11, an immigrant, is our reminder of the ideals on which our country is supposed to be founded. This role could easily become a caricature, but Kondo refuses to be just a mouthpiece for ideas. He internalizes the dialogue and makes it organic and character-driven.

Cory Skold’s set design is spot-on, giving us a sense of the ordinary so that we feel like we are in this place at this time without ever distracting us from the people inhabiting the space. Director Julie K. Phillips does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension as the play goes on. There is a creative choice to black out the set at moments when emotions boil over. At first, I thought it was a lighting cue error, but after it happened a couple more times, I realized what was going on. Despite my initial reaction to the choice, I actually think it’s a brilliant decision. It gives us a moment to breathe and emphasizes those moments so that the points being made, whether it’s a declaration of “I’ll kill you!” or something else, are not lost in the momentum of the play.

My verdict on Lyric Arts’ Twelve Angry Men? GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS! Guilty of delivering a riveting production of a classic that holds a mirror up to our strengths and weaknesses as humans and as a society. Guilty of ratcheting up the tension until the final moments. And guilty of being first-rate entertainment. No reasonable doubt about it!

Twelve Angry Men runs through November first at Lyric Arts in Anoka. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.lyricarts.org/twelve-angry-men

I want to alert you faithful readers to a new Website that has just started up in the Twin Cities. It’s called 79 Seconds on Stage and it is a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

The Orpheum Theatre is Alive With The Sound of Music in This Fantastic Production, Highly Recommended!

Kevin Earley (Captain Georg von Trapp) with the von Trapp Children (with guitar) Ariana Ferch (Liesl), (seated) Luciana VanDette (Gretl). Also pictured: Haddie Mac (Brigitta), Ruby Caramore (Marta), Benjamin Stasiek (Kurt), Eli Vander Griend (Friedrich), Ava Davis (Louisa) in The Sound of Music. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

A strange thing happened as I sat in the theater tonight watching the touring company of The Sound of Music. A wave of nostalgia washed over me, and unlike the typical wave that comes and goes, it stayed with me. I’m not sure my eyes ever fully dried; they just kept leaking. Why was this? There is something about art that affects us in a unique way, particularly those works that are our gateways.

The film version of The Sound of Music was a yearly viewing event in my family’s house. Beginning in 1979, NBC began airing the film yearly, usually in February. I can clearly remember the first time I saw it during the 1979 broadcast. I was seven years old. It wasn’t my first film musical; I’m sure that was The Wizard of Oz, but I honestly don’t think of that as a musical for some odd reason, because clearly it is. But it’s a children’s fantasy first and foremost. The Sound of Music was an adult film, and everything about it moved me profoundly.

For years, I thought the dance between Liesl and Rolf during “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” was the most beautiful dancing I’d ever seen. I think Charmian Carr, who played Liesl, was my first celebrity crush. Little did my seven-year-old brain know that by that time, she wasn’t just nine years older than me, surely a number we could work through, but by the time I saw the film, she was 30 years older than me.

So tonight, I think all of those memories, of staying up way past my bedtime, of falling in love with Liesl, of that wonderful dance, and of all those beautiful songs, flooded back into my heart. I was reminded of that first pure love of a musical, long before I had a critical eye with which to view things. I don’t know that any other musical could have had as deep an impact as this one did. Tonight, I was reminded of all of that, and I think I was weeping for all of the reasons above, but also because I had been reminded of my love of the musical as an art form. These songs are like old friends, and seeing the show felt like coming home.

I think for some, The Sound of Music falls under the heading of shows they know well and think they don’t need to see again. To that, I would simply say: You’ve heard Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell a bunch of times. Does that mean you never need to hear it again? Of course not! And that’s why my fellow bloggers and I go and see shows we’ve already seen productions of, because the great shows are like a favorite album. They are a joy to revisit, and they remind you of who you were when you first saw them. Each production is like hearing something new on a well-known album.

Now, fans of the film who have never seen a stage production may also be surprised by several differences. There are two songs in the stage musical that do not appear in the film. They flesh out the roles of Max and Elsa. Truth be told, they were no real loss from the film. But all the songs you know and love from the film are here, though sometimes not when you expect them to appear. “My Favorite Things,” for example, is sung by Maria and Mother Abbess before Maria leaves the Abbey. Missing from the stage musical is “I Have Confidence,” which was written for the film. Oddly, “Something Good,” which was also written for the film, does appear in this version in place of the original song “An Ordinary Couple.”

The changes are ones we note mentally and then let wash over us. They work where they are, just as they worked in the film, where director Robert Wise and screenwriter Ernest Lehman moved them to. There is very little in this production that doesn’t work. It was not just nostalgia that provoked the reactions I was having; it was also a response to this production.

One of the standout elements is the scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt. Something as simple as following Mother Abbess through the Abbey in the opening is made dynamic by the set pieces that move along with her. The transitions are expertly timed and executed by director Jack O’Brien and the stage management team. There are some gorgeous backdrops, and the final set piece, depicting the grounds of the Abbey and the mountains the von Trapp family escapes Austria by climbing over (which they actually do in the show), is brilliantly designed.

The children are all great, as is Kevin Earley as Captain von Trapp. Ariana Ferch, who plays Liesl, is a standout. She is constantly adding little movements that give the character added awareness and depth. When she first plays the guitar in front of her father, sensing his protest, she moves forward in a way that conveys a new sense of defiance and agency, it’s silent, but it speaks volumes.

Lisa Howard plays Mother Abbess with a stunning voice that brings the theater alive with the sound of music. The real stunner, though, was Sydney K. Borchers as Maria, who is in as the understudy. It’s hard not to think we lucked out in getting the understudy, because it’s hard to imagine anyone playing the role better.

Borchers is absolutely a revelation in the role. This is Maria as we know and love her, but she’s also different. There is a freshness, a youthfulness, possibly even a slightly more modern edge to her. No, “edge” is the wrong word. She is not edgy in the slightest; she is sweet, good, loving, joyful, wise, all of those things, but without any of the cornier aspects those words summon.

I’d love to see this production again while it’s in town, but I’d be worried we wouldn’t have Borchers, and at this moment, I have no desire to see anyone else in that role. She is that good. Watching her, I completely forgot Julie Andrews’ performance, and that is really saying something, as Andrews is so ingrained in my mind as Maria.

There was just one casting choice that was all wrong: Dylan Bradford, who plays Rolf. He is supposed to be 17; Liesl is 16, and Ferch looks like she could easily be 16. I’m sure she is really in her twenties, but she doesn’t look it. Bradford looks 34, and it feels weird and just pulls you right out of the play for a moment. You can cast someone who’s 34, but they need to at least be able to pass for 17-ish.

Fans of The Sound of Music, don’t sit back and let this one come and go. Grab your tickets; you will not be disappointed. If you are a fan of musicals but haven’t ever seen The Sound of Music, it’s a musical you absolutely need to see, and this is probably the best stage version you’ll ever see.

The Sound of Music runs through October 25 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to Hennepin Arts.

Twin Cities Horror Festival XV Reviews II: Lumbrada, and The Slender Vale Archives.

Hello faithful readers, I’m back with reviews of two more shows running at this years Twin Cities Horror Festival. The festival runs through Oct 31st and it’s the perfect way to celebrate Monster Month. Here is a link to the festival website so you can get all the details: https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

Every show can’t be a winner. I see everything so that I can hopefully guide those who can only make it to a few shows to the best ones, or the ones that are going to hit your sweet spot. Lumbrada is kind of a miss. It’s confusing. One character is someone whose voice we only hear, and we’re unsure why that is. It doesn’t become clear at any point. The performances vary in terms of the actors’ comfort on stage, with dialogue getting lost in some less-than-confident performances.

There are about four or five moments, lines, or an effect that work great! But the rest seems underwritten and/or doesn’t make sense. The story is about four friends camping out and telling stories. One example of a head-scratching line comes when one character is telling their scary story, and another comments on a detail that seems very much in tune with the story they’re relating: “Why would you share that with us?” I wanted to shout out, “Because she’s telling you a story!”

I love that the TCHF gives newer artists opportunities. Sometimes you get something truly great. This time, it just doesn’t really work, aside from those four or five moments. But if you’re looking to catch only a few shows, this is probably one to skip.

The Slender Vale Archives is another improv show, sharing some of the creatives involved in Tales of Terror…From the Tomb!!! This one is narrated by the always reliable Sean Dillon, who sets up the show with his opening narration. Dillon explains that the town of Slender Vale is full of unexplained stories and uses a deck to select three words from which the improvisers must spin one long-form story.

As is the case with these improv shows, it’s really about the improvisers themselves and whether the show succeeds or fails. The TCHF jury has its pulse on the Twin Cities improv scene, so you know you’ll be in safe hands with any of those shows. This group features several performers who will be familiar to Twin Cities improv fans, like Destiny Davison, Ross Flores, and Chris Rodriguez.

I’ll be back at the Horror fest next weekend to see the remaining Eight shows, so check back then, but if your schedule only allows you to go this week, let me fill you in on a little secret. Being surprised is part of the fun. It’s like getting home to check out your trick-or-treat haul. My Mummy always said Horror Fest is like a pillowcase of candy, you never know what you’re goin ta get.

Monster Month is Now in Full Swing With the Launch of the Twin Cities Horror Festival XV Opening Night Reviews: LESLIE VINCENT: A MONSTER & MAYHEM CABARET, TALES OF TERROR…FROM THE TOMB!!!, AUGMENTATION, and MANTICORE, MN.

There is a wonderful thing that happens about midway through Monster Month: a select group of Twin Cities theatergoers look forward to it like Christmas. It’s the Twin Cities Horror Festival, the longest-running horror theater festival in the country. This is like a mini Fringe Festival. Each show runs about an hour, and there are 13 shows in rotation, plus a one-night-only festival-opening jazz cabaret by Leslie Vincent, which, if you are reading this and weren’t there, you missed. The great thing about this festival, as opposed to the MN Fringe Festival, is that it is not only possible to see every show, it’s easily done if you so desire. Each of the 13 shows is performed five times over 16 days. The cost per show is $15, but while supplies last, you can purchase a five-show pass for $70. There is also a Skeleton Pass, which gets you into all 13 shows, but those are usually sold out before the festival opens, so that’s something to keep in mind for next year. Here is a link to the festival website: https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

There isn’t a lot to say about this since you were either there or you missed it. This was the second time they opened the festival with the sultry sounds of the exquisite Leslie Vincent. If you’ve not heard Vincent perform, you don’t know what you are missing. Here is a link to her website so you can catch an upcoming show or purchase her albums: https://leslievincentmusic.com/home. It’s a real feather in the festival’s hat that they can open the festival with her, and I hope they make it an ongoing thing.

Tales of Terror…From the Tomb!!! is an improv show that includes some puppets. Like improv shows at the Fringe, it will be different every time. What matters is the cast and the format. This is long-form improv, meaning they tell one continuous story for the entire hour. It is structured like one of those horror anthology shows, such as Tales from the Crypt, with this version featuring the Tomb Teller, played by co-director Laura Berger, who introduces and narrates the tale. I’m a fan of the horror anthology format, everything from the British film Dead of Night up through The Vault of Horror and Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, to TV shows like Thriller and Inside No. 9. So the structure was something I was predisposed to like. Was it funny? That comes down to the cast, and the answer is yes, it was. Ari Newman, Chris Rodriguez, Hannah Wydeven, Maria Bartholdi, Meghan Wolff, and Phil Schramm are the performers, with the other co-director, Will Schroeder, under a hood operating the puppets backstage. This show will delight fans of the horror anthology and improv.

Augmentation is written by, co-directed by, and stars the Executive Director of the TCHF, Duck Washington, and, as with previous years, it is one of the more accomplished shows we’ll see in the festival. Washington’s scripts are always more than just stories to scare the audience; they are thought-provoking tales. This one deals with a man who is gravely injured after rescuing people from a burning building. The doctors who get ahold of him save his life by implanting him with a ton of cybertronic parts. As he recovers, it becomes obvious that the “enhancements” that saved his life have not only replaced some of his body but also his humanity. It’s a cautionary tale about technology and whether we control it or it controls us. It’s easy to see the parallels to our current debate about AI.

A great cast features some favorites, including Kyle Dekker, Heather Meyer, Angela Fox, and Ariel Pinkerton. A special salute to CJ Mantel and Nick Glover for the costumes, makeup, and effects. The final scene has some wonderful tech, with the final blackout creating a rather terrifying image for the audience to ponder. This will surely be among the best of the festival.

Manticore, MN is written by J. Merrill Motz (rhymes with boats) and is another very strong script and well-done production. Directed by Alexander Gerchak, it features another great cast, including Thomas M. Buan, Kyra Richardson, Boo Segersin, and Lewis Youngren. In the small town of Manticore, MN, which isn’t even on the map, people have been disappearing and returning different. A special government agent, played by Segersin, comes to town to try to find out what is happening. The show keeps you on your toes; you are never sure who is good and who might be bad. There are echoes of John Carpenter’s version of The Thing, down to blood tests to try to figure out who is human and who isn’t, though without the gross body-horror elements.

It’s filled with nice touches of humor and is grounded by a commanding performance from Segersin. Buan, who plays the one-syllable-speaking logger Lars, gets a surprise scene of verbalness that reminds one of Silent Bob, but it also made me realize that, in a few years or with makeup, Buan would make a fantastic Falstaff.

If the rest of the TCHF is as good as opening night, this will be a very strong year.

The Rocky Horror Show is an Absolute Joy of Overloaded Spectacle From Mixfit Theatre at Lush Lounge & Theater

Mixfit Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show is unlike any other production I’ve seen, which is in keeping with the oddity that is the legacy of The Rocky Horror Show. A love letter to genre sci-fi and horror films, it is best known to the general public through the film adaptation, which, after a poor initial theatrical release, found new life during midnight screenings. Due to the popularity of those midnight screenings, in which the audience interacts with the film, shouting lines and throwing rice, it has become the longest-running theatrical release in film history. Now, this production doesn’t want you throwing rice, but the cast may ask you to participate, which is a nice nod to the film’s traditions. But fear not, introverts! You will be asked at the entry if you wish to be interacted with. If you select no, you will be given a red glow necklace to wear.

This is the second show I’ve seen at Lush this season, and they have both been a blast. The theater at Lush is primarily used for their drag shows and isn’t really designed for full-on staged musicals. So there is literally nothing in terms of set, but there are costumes, video projections, props, and an assortment of aerialist equipment. The show is billed as a burlesque circus cabaret, but that seems to imply it doesn’t tell the story of the show, which it absolutely does. But there is a lot going on at any one time. As characters are singing the songs, there is usually someone either on stage or out in the center of the audience performing aerial acts that are jaw-dropping. Throughout the show, you will literally not know where to be looking from moment to moment. It is complete sensory overload, but in the best possible way. To say I was wowed by some of the circus performers’ aerial choreography would be an understatement.

The show starts with the song “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” the lyrics of which string together titles and facts from various sci-fi and horror films. Director Siddeeqah Shabazz has utilized projections that exactly mirror the content of the lyrics of the song. We get a really well-edited montage of shots from many films, including The Day the Earth Stood Still, Night of the Demon, and the old Flash Gordon serial starring Buster Crabbe, all with a very queer-feeling color overlay. I knew from the first moment that montage appeared that I was going to love the show.

For those familiar with the show, you may already be aware that the first act is the strongest. All the best songs are in the first act, and the story is relatively easy to follow, even in this unique staging. The second half can be a little muddled in terms of plot, but again, there is so much going on in the space that, while you might be a little fuzzy on what is happening, you will be completely entertained. Even when the songs are not that strong, the band, led by Musical Director Bradley Beahen, wins you over with their clean, tight sound.

The cast has a lot of performers who are new to me, including El-Sara Duopu as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, whose vocals and stage presence are equally powerful. Lee Garr, as the Narrator, is full of strut and coolness as he dips in and out of the story to give us a guiding voice. The cast also has some Stages of MN favorites, including Monty Hays in the dual role of Eddie and Dr. Scott, who really makes the song “Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?” his own. Nora Sonneborn, as Riff Raff, is a powerhouse. Her vocals are always top-notch, but this role is a million miles from what I’m used to seeing her in, and I thought she was fantastic here. And another really strong performance comes from Caitlin Sparks, who brings a new edge to the character of Janet. That was really fun. She plays it big, which works perfectly for this production, where mousey would have been lost in the cacophony of the show.

This is one to attend with friends, have some drinks, and just relax and enjoy the spectacle. But hurry, the show is selling out its short run quickly. The Rocky Horror Show runs through October 24 at Lush Lounge and Theater in Minneapolis. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.mixfittheatre.org/tickets.

Dracula Rises Once Again, This Time With A Creative Feminist Take on the Classic at the Historic Mounds Theatre

Kate Hamill’s Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic tale, but with a decidedly forward-thinking view of gender roles. It follows the geographic outline of Stoker’s plot but changes many of the details. Several key roles in the book are eliminated, relationships change, and even genders are swapped, as in the case of Doctor Van Helsing, who is now a woman. Changes like these to the original source material are almost a prerequisite. Even Francis Ford Coppola’s film version, which is among the more faithful adaptations, can’t help but tweak things a bit. Fidelity to the text should never be an issue when judging a Dracula or Frankenstein adaptation, as Hollywood and the stage long ago implanted changes that the casual observer may assume are the true plots. This production is a mixed bag that works for the most part.

What works well are the elements that deal with gender roles and questioning the patriarchy. The tale lends itself well to this sort of examination. You have the old-school Dracula, who rules over his wives as if he is their lord and master. Then you have the more modern relationships, such as Dr. Seward and his relationship with his fiancée, Lucy, and her friend Mina. He tries to be in charge but finds himself being overruled by Doctor Van Helsing, and the women in his world are more likely to state their opinions or be aware that they have to circumvent his authority.

The casting of Mavrick M. Miller as Count Dracula is very effective. He doesn’t look like our pop culture Draculas, such as Bela Lugosi or even Christopher Lee, but he matches Stoker’s description fairly accurately. He adds an effective accent and has a foreboding stage presence; he’s slightly let down by the wardrobe, particularly in one of the final scenes, where he appears to be wearing a white polo shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt. Cate Jackson is also well cast as Mina. Though the character is changed from the book a good deal, she’s a strong character, and Jackson brings that across to the audience. The direction Hamill took with the character of Van Helsing works really well, but I didn’t feel like Maggie Mae Sulentic played it as effectively as she could have. It may also be the costuming here; there is a sloppiness to the character that undercuts her effectiveness. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of costume designer Krista Weiss’s choices. I’d have gone for a cooler look, less hobo.

The costumes are good in some scenes and detrimental in others. The reality is that there are over 20 actors in the show, many need multiple costumes, and this theater company is a small one. I think they did the best they could in all design departments; it’s just that the budget shows. Some elements are really good. There are some blood effects by Robin Gilmer and Shannon Walbran that are well handled, along with some set pieces that are exactly what is needed, such as Renfield’s cell and the beds of Lucy and Mina. You can suspend your disbelief to the needed level, and then someone enters wearing a polo shirt and the illusion with the audience is broken. I don’t know what the answer to that is. Obviously, within their means, they should do the best they can in every aspect, is the immediate thought, but perhaps finding a balance is better. The inequity in these elements is what pulls us out at times, which is not what you want.

Erika Sasseville directs the show and makes a lot of really effective choices. For the 30 minutes prior to the start, Renfield, another gender-role swap, played by Jennifer D’Lynn, is on stage, at times lying down facing away from the audience and at other times making eerie eye contact with us. It’s a fun way to set the tone, and she carries that tone throughout, with Dracula’s undead posse entering through the aisles among the audience. Another nice touch is having Dracula’s horde act as furniture in the Count’s castle.

The other aspect of the show that needs work is the length. It runs nearly three hours and felt like it could easily have shaved 15 to 30 minutes off through judicious cuts (which would be Hamill’s job) and general pacing, which the director could try to pick up.

If you are someone who can’t get enough horror shows during monster month, like I am, you’ll want to check this one out. It has its flaws, but the good stuff outweighs the missed steps. Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really runs through October 31 at the Historic Mounds Theatre, where you can enjoy a variety of treats and beverages during the show, including popcorn and cocktails. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.nightfiretheatre.com/dracula.