Friends and Neighbors

Just in time for the start of Spooky Season, Brainerd Community Theatre has brought everybody’s favorite undead Romanian nobleman back to the stage. But this production is anything but a traditional take on the Count. This adaptation by Gordon Greemberg & Steve Rosen, directed by BCT stalwart Amy Borash, is a fast-paced farce that lampoons every element of Bram Stoker’s tale and then some.

For a show as broad and silly as this, there’s a temptation to primarily judge it on the simplest of terms – did I laugh? Absolutely I laughed – there were hardly five minutes that went by in this 90-minute show without a chuckle, chortle, or belly laugh. But there’s more to appreciate here than just a series of jokes – there’s a ton of skill on display in their execution. Director Borash and her cast execute a smorgasbord of classic comedy tropes with a clever modern sensibility. What may be most impressive is how the cast, while being hilarious all the way through, never appear to be stretching for a joke. There’s no winking at the audience during this show, even if the material seems like it would invite it. All of the characters take the story deadly seriously, so the actors do as well, which inevitably makes the comedy all the more funny.

The cast consists of five actors, four of whom play multiple parts. The only actor with a sole credit is Matt Hill as the title character. Hill plays the Count like an omnisexual 19th-century rock star.  He’s just out for a good time. Of course, his idea of a good time tends to involve more exsanguination than most.

The Count also gets his kicks through manipulation and seduction, and he doesn’t discriminate – Lucy might be his primary target, but Dracula isn’t above cuddling with and smooching, either. Harker is played by Jacob Becker in an impressive balancing act. This version of Harker is a neurotic hypochondriac terrified of anything that might involve risk. That sort of characterization could easily become too much in the hands of the wrong actor, but Jacob Becker manages to keep him likeable, and when he finally gets the chance to cut loose near the show’s end, he clearly relishes it. As Lucy, Nancy Topete brings an appealing willfulness, making their character as strong and confident as Harker is wimpy and neurotic. Special recognition should go to Nicole Rothluetner and Noah Barnhart, both of whom spend most of the show in drag, but are savvy enough performers to not make that the main butt of the joke. The genderbending is just one of many avenues of comedy in this show, and the two of them play their respective roles with dignity – or at least the amount of dignity that can be afforded to Rothluetner playing a complete chauvinist who can’t possibly imagine the idea of a woman doctor or Barnhart as the affection-starved sister of Lucy who is desperate for male attention, no matter who gives it. The whole ensemble moves so smoothly between their roles (or less than smoothly, when a joke can be made out of it, as happens a few times to delightful effect) that it sometimes feels like a magic trick.

The set design fits the fast pace of the show, with pieces rotating in the background to signify changes of location and only a few key props brought on and off as necessary. The costumes by Rachael Kline are predictably excellent, and the sound and lighting design bring the audience into the setting wonderfully.

DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS runs until November 1st at the Chalberg Auditorium at Central Lakes College in Brainerd.