Millennial Notes
Steven Dietz Entices Us with Suspense and Mystery
by Rachel Norby
I thoroughly enjoyed Theatre Lunatico’s masterful presentation of “Dracula.” Performed in La Val’s Subterranean Theater, the setting is intimate and spooky. Whispered echoes from the ensemble add to the eeriness. An ageless story about the vampire who cannot die, Lunatico’s “Dracula” impressed me with superb acting, costuming, and staging.
“Dracula” opens in London, 1897, where serious Dr. Seward (resolute Shoresh Alaudini) has fallen in love with the fickle Lucy (versatile April Culver). Dr. Seward is determined to make a name for himself by understanding what causes the lunacy of a patient in the mental hospital, Renfield (talented Maria Grazia Affinito). Alaudini perfectly conveys Seward’s stalwart nature, mingled with quiet desperation.
“Superb acting, costuming, and staging”.
Eileen Fisher (Dr. Anna Van Helsing) and Shoresh Alaudini (Dr. Seward)
Maria Grazia Affinito, brilliant as Renfield, endears herself to us, creepily, with her desperate loyalty for Count Dracula (sinister Michael Barr). Renfield, the “madwoman,” is constantly on-stage, many times in the shadows, never allowing us to forget that something sinister is lurking in the dark, soon to be revealed.
Maria Grazia Affinito (Renfield)
“The creative team spares no horrors. Bravo to all Lunatico’s”.
Read the full review by Rachel Norby at Theatrius.
See our Dracula production gallery here!
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