About the Play:

Dracula is a full-length thriller by Crane Johnson, freely adapted from the epic novel by Bram Stoker. In this simply staged version, Count Dracula attempts to move to move from Transylvania to England to find new blood and spread his undead curse, but Professor Van Helsing and the townspeople get in his way. Dracula is sure to send a chill down the spine of audience members as the forces of good and evil clash in this thrilling tale of mystery and intrigue.

Dracula is an exceptionally skillful version of the classic thriller. Everyone is familiar with the dark tale of Dr. Seward, his fiancée, Lucy, and their mysterious neighbour, Count Dracula, but here the events take on intensified effect through the heightened action and simplified staging of this fast-moving version. Lucy suddenly becomes ill as she prepares for her wedding, much to everyone's alarm, including her aunt, Mrs. Harker, and her husband-to-be, the scholarly Dr. Seward. Meanwhile, the good doctor must divide his time between Lucy and a very disturbed young man named Renfield, whose strange eating habits warrant scientific inquiry. Sensing that Lucy's illness may also be rooted in some undefined and perhaps unnatural phenomena, Dr. Seward has summoned the renowned metaphysical expert Dr. Van Helsing to help him figure out what's wrong with her (playwright Crane Johnson changed genders: vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing is portrayed as a female character). Under her astute questioning the very odd facts of Lucy's ailment begin to emerge – with two small pinpricks on the young woman's neck as the only clue. When their new neighbour from Carfax Hall, Count Dracula, pays a call, Van Helsing begins to suspect the horrible truth. Thereafter it is a desperate race to save Lucy, and the others, from Dracula's evil clutches – and, once and for all, to find and destroy the vampire in his secret hiding place.

Dracula premiered in 1987 at the Royal Playhouse off-Broadway in New York City. Receiving critical acclaim, it ran for the entire theatre season. Revived in 1995 by  the Theatre District company in Costa Mesa, California, the play has been produced on countless stages in regional, high school, college and community theatre productions.

Cast: 4 female, 3 male

What people say:

"…fascinating … eerily worthwhile…." — New York Times

"Bram Stoker's Dracula is a tragic man in exile. ...Crane Johnson's Dracula, though, is a lot more mysterious... Usually, Dracula on stage is a hunt led by professional vampire sleuth Dr. Van Helsing, aided by Jonathan Harker. Here, Van Helsing is an urbane woman called upon by Dr. Seward whose fiancee, Lucy, has fallen under the vampire's spell. Harker has become the frightened Mrs. Harker, and ... the play's heart is in the engagement between metaphysical philosopher Van Helsing and man of science Seward." — Los Angeles Times

About the Playwright:

Crane Johnson is an American director and playwright best known for his one-act plays.