Steel City Shakespeare’s Dracula Leaves a Memorable Mark
Reviewed by Dr. Tiffany Raymond, PhD
Among the pinky-raising crowd, the term community theatre can be a disparaging one connoting subpar content performed by an ensemble of inept locals. Not only does Pittsburgh theatre buck this stereotype, but the Steel City Shakespeare Center consistently elevates the possible with its programming.
Steel City Shakespeare’s willingness to innovate manifests in their most recent production – an appropriately Halloween-timed staged reading of Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula, adapted by Cole Vecchio (who also plays the Count).
The staged reading is a unique, underutilized genre both worthy of comment and in need of rebranding. Benefit-wise, it enhances the efficiency of time to performance. The actors don’t have to memorize their parts or learn stage directions. However, simply calling it a “reading” is a delimiter that fails to do justice to the experience. The actors were costumed for visual reinforcement of their roles. They performed from the proverbial pulpit as each rose to read. Their gestures and changes in vocal intonation brought the text to life beyond “reading.”
Dracula is sitting in the middle of the semi-circle of spread actors with music stands holding their scripts. It’s a symbolic choice by director Tracey D. Turner. Dracula is both the title character and the keystone of the play’s action, with magnetically persuasive powers over others that his center position visually reinforces. Turner has Vecchio stand slowly and deliberately, scanning both actors and audience, radiating Dracula’s unrushed power of the eternal. His polished black suit provides a stark backdrop for his blood-red tie. He literally and metaphorically stands between Mina Murray (Lexie Hellinger) and her betrothed, Jonathan Harker (Samwise Riley), a lawyer who treks to Transylvania for business with the Count. Hellinger and Riley cultivate the playful, authentic banter of a young couple on the cusp of their lives.
Vecchio’s adaptation highlights two timely, relevant axes within Dracula. First, Dracula’s power primarily resides in his ability to make people psychologically question themselves. He twists how others they trust have failed them, creating doubt in the once solid networks of love and friendship. Turner often has Vecchio outstretch his arm, palm facing his targets as he speaks as if he’s drawing out their doubts. He’s the 19th-century incarnate of gaslighting.
Secondly, Dracula is brought down by a woman. Hellinger’s inquisitive Mina Murray proves the mastermind who connects the disparate dots no one else sees and persuades the men into action. Dracula’s failure to recognize female potential is the blind spot that triggers his downfall. Power’s blindness and fallibility prove to be themes that transcend time.
Dracula ran October 28th and 29th. To follow the Steel City Shakespeare Center and learn more about their inspiring programming, please visit http://www.steelcityshakespeare.org/
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