Playhouse puts comic spin on ‘Dracula’ vampire story

By Milan Paurich

You can’t blame “Dracula” for beginning to show his age. The stage adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel has been kicking around since 1924.

Because the Transylvanian count and his bloodthirsty deeds are so familiar to audiences from countless screen and television versions, it’s perhaps inevitable that any contemporary production of Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston’s play would assume the ritualistic quality of Japanese Noh Theater by now.

Surprises are few and not especially welcome. After all, everyone already knows the story, right? Tinkering with this sacrosanct template would be self-defeating, even a tad blasphemous. And the show’s sheer and utter predictability is part of the fun.

Or is it? Any 21st-century “Dracula” that refuses to capitalize on the current vogue in vampire chic (HBO’s “True Blood,” the “Twilight” series, etc.) risks looking like an old fogey.

Throwing caution to the wind, the “Dracula” that opened to a large, enthusiastic crowd at the Youngstown Playhouse on Friday night serves up the tried and true in stylish, expeditious fashion. Jim Lybarger’s set design is exceedingly handsome, as are Cherie Stebner’s period-appropriate costumes. Director Terri Wilkes’ eclectic cast- — many familiar faces, some newcomers — seems to understand that they’re not reinventing the wheel here, just giving the audience a good, goose-bumply time.

Yet, thrills and chills are at a premium in the Playhouse’s “Dracula.” As are sensuality and the abiding sense of menace that are part and parcel with Stoker’s legendary bloodsucker. Curiously, this is the first “Dracula” in memory that seems content with being, gasp!, drolly amusing. You’ll smile, maybe even giggle a few times. Nobody’s sleep will be disturbed, however, and the overall effect is more sedate than spooky.

The immensely gifted Alan McCreary — who previously played Dracula in a 2001 Playhouse production — certainly knows how to work the Count’s trademark cape, but his Nosferatu comes across more like a randy, curiously accented suburban dentist than The Prince of Darkness.

Speaking of accents, Matthew DiBattiste really nails the upper-crust British-isms of perennial Dracula antagonist Jonathan Harker. It’s a stellar performance: too bad the character as written remains such a pill.

Also impressive were the spot-on Cockney dialects of Michael McGrail (as asylum orderly Butterworth) and Hannah Gillespie (Seward family maid Miss Wells).

I was less sold on Tom Hathhorn’s Borscht Belt spin on fearless vampire killer Abraham Van Helsing. Although his plummy intonations fade in and out, Terry Shears does a commendable job as flibbertigibbet Dr. Seward.

Austintown Fitch senior Dana Ferguson gives a strangely wan reading of vampire victim Lucy, making it hard to understand why Dracula and Harker would bother vying for her favors.

The most enjoyable performance is turned in by Jason Green as fly-and spider-gobbling lunatic Renfield. Green’s terrifically inspired reinterpretation of the role is so wickedly entertaining and daringly original that you almost wish the entire show had been devoted to him. (I even detected a trace of the young, pre-”Phantom of the Opera” Michael Crawford in Green’s demoniacally voluble tour-de-force.)

Despite the play’s somewhat awkward three-act structure necessitating two intermissions, Wilkes maintains a fairly brisk, even jaunty, pace throughout (only Act Three’s opening scene drags a bit). Ellen Licitra’s artfully moody lighting design contributes mightily to the overall impact.

Unfortunately, the climax in Dracula’s crypt is severely underlit, making it difficult to make out much of the action. Jim Lybarger’s witty sound effects are aces throughout, and hands-down the most chilling element of an otherwise fairly demure reiteration of the greatest (undead) story ever told.

“Dracula” runs through Nov.8 at the Youngstown Playhouse. For tickets or additional information, call (330) 788-8739.