As the lights dim for Thalian Association Community Theatre's production of the classic vampire tale "Dracula," the audience hears a short, emphatic voiceover warning of the use of "horror elements": flashing lights, blood and even the F word, aka fog.
It's like what you'd hear at a theme park before going on a roller coaster ("keep your neck out of the aisles at all times") and presages what proves a wild, technically impressive ride to come.
If not well-staged, a play based on a 19th century novel could be deadly to a modern audience. But "Dracula" director Joshua Zieseniss, along with a strong cast and top-notch crew, delivers a compelling, cinematic take on the oft-told story that's a worthy segue into Spooky Season 2026.
"Dracula" finishes
its run Friday through Sunday, Oct. 2-4, at historic Thalian Hall in downtown Wilmington.
The highly stylized show is vibe-driven, and Patrick Basquill's throbby, synthy original score is like a pulse, or a pumping heartbeat. When it disappears, as it does sometimes in the second act, the action suffers for it.
Basquill's score is augmented by the work of sound designer Ethan Golden and audio engineer Neilly Carrol, who blend in the spooky tones of dripping water, howling wolves and echoey vocals.
Benedict Fancy's set packs a lot onto the Thalian Hall stage and does so with considerable style, with floating crosses hovering above a lunatic asylum, Dracula's castle and stately British bedrooms.
Andrew Fisher's lights are next-level, with double and triple spots highlighting the action, chilling reds and cold blues behind the windows. Fisher's lights even form a red-horned devil on stage at one point, all while flickering lamps in the seating area add to the creepy atmosphere and mirror the old-timey "candlelight" on stage.
Zieseniss definitely doesn't forget the blood, whether it's flowing through a ghastly tube, dripping from characters' mouths or being splattered across the stage.
The story, adapted by Stephen Dietz from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (Thalian Hall pre-dates "Dracula," kids), is one most of us know well.
Innocent and upright London real estate agent Jonathan Harker (John Allen Gibson, a perfectly bland, agreeable Everyman thrown into a crazy situation) takes an exotic business trip to the Carpathian Mountains of Romania where he's set to do a deal with a reclusive count in Transylvania. Things unravel from there as Harker discovers he's only a pawn in the game of an immortal, bloodthirsty vampire who's hundreds of years old.
Corey Ahlers is a classic, old-school Dracula in the Christopher Lee mode, big and imposing, wonderfully costumed in a black suit and cape with red accents by Hunter Rock, and bearing just a whiff of a Eastern European accent. (That the other actors don't attempt English accents is probably for the best.)
Georgia Cole is understated but impactful as Mina, our forthright damsel in distress, while Cat Thomas is effectively A Lot as Mina's doomed friend, the lusty Lucy.
Caylan McKay gnaws the scenery as Drac's bug-eating madman minion Renfield ("I must be clean for my master!" he screams while licking his arm), Chase Harrison is our solidly upright horror-movie hero Dr. Seward and Mark Sutton is excellent as the eccentric Van Helsing, the famous Dutch vampire hunter.
All in all a bloody good time, and a worthy take on this Halloween-time favorite.
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter for the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Cinematic 'Dracula' brings stylish horror to Thalian Hall | Exclusive
