In a staging suiting the season, the Perry High School Drama Department will present its fall production of “Dracula” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3 and at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Perry Performing Arts Center.
The PHS production is based on Stephen Hotchner’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” a classic novel of gothic horror first published in 1897. Admission to the Perry High play is $5 for adults and $3 for students.
“The play is a great one about the classic vampire tale,” said Director Randy Peterson of the PHS Drama Department. “It’s based very closely on Bram Stoker’s novel, and I think it’s really a great example of the gothic horror genre. ‘Dracula’ is one of those tales that have spawned many different spin-offs, but the original still remains one of the great stories about vampires.”
Peterson said he chose “Dracula” because it squares with his taste and also with the Halloween season.
“I really like all of the old horror novels like ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ so this pretty perfectly suits my interests in books,” he said, “and the timing of it worked just perfectly. Our show opens three days after Halloween, so knowing that, I knew that I wanted to do a monster show.”
Peterson has been teaching talented and gifted students in the Perry school system for four years, and this is his first full-length production with the PHS Drama Department.
“I’m really excited that they gave me the opportunity to run the shows for PHS,” he said. “I’ve directed three shows at the middle school in my time here in Perry, and the difference between a one-act play and a full-length play is pretty stark.”
The cast of the PHS production of “Dracula” includes 16 actors and 13 crew members.
“It’s been a lot of fun to work with all of my great actors and technical crew to put together this show,” Peterson said. “The students here at PHS are really amazing, and they’ve got a lot of heart. They’ve really put just as much into the play as I have.”
The spring production is set for the first weekend of April, but beyond that, I haven’t had time to consider it very much yet. I’ll select a play to do right after Dracula is over.
