Review: DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS at Lazy Susan Theatre Co.

Dracula, the literary world and cinema’s most famous vampire (sorry Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris and Stephenie Meyer) has landed with much cape twilling and fanfare in our windy city.

He’s here, he’s queer (coded), and...funny. Director Matthew Masino’s production of playwrights Gordon Greenberg and Steven Rosen’s gender-bending farce of gothic horror DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS is a 90 minute delight.

Dracula (Conner Paulson) has set his sights on conquering London and snacking on the neck of the adventurous Lucy Westfeldt (Valerie Martire).

Martire’s Lucy shares more in common with Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre than her original fictional counterpart. She desires for adventure and a place in society in which her knowledge and accomplishments can be celebrated, not buried under the weight of matrimony. Often times the “straight man” in this farce, her acting is layered and nuanced. This succeeds in highlighting the lunacy happening all around her to much greater effect as a result.

Jonathan Harker (Jacob Gage), Lucy’s intended, is hardly a threat to the count. The nervous, nerdy real estate agent can only sum up courage if it involves real estate contracts with commission checks with large zeros. Gage commits to the wallflower aspects of the part, making a reveal later in the show to be much more comical.  

Lucy’s sister Mina (Laura Michelle Erle in a curly red wig that appears to have survived a  hundred stops on a never ending, non-equity tour of ANNIE) does her best to steal the count’s attention, but alas, she has received all the family’s recessive genes. While Lucy seems to shine, Mina wilts and fades into the wallpaper. She tries hard to please people and is almost too much for Drac (but, hey, a neck’s a neck).

Erle also doubles up as Dr. Jean Van Helsing. Lucy’s dad (played with much wit and reserve required of the role by Cris King), has mistakenly thought the doctor was male and French (Jean as in John). Van Helsing’s wit and sarcasm are as sharp as wooden stakes, and she is up to the challenge. She delivers one liners with a doctor’s surgical precision.

Paulson’s Dracula is more diva than demon. He’s lonely and selfish, but looks good in black boots with a four inch heel, a white shirt, tight black pants and a billowy cape. You do feel sorry for him in some ways. He’s a narcissist, but he’s a goofy narcissist.

With the exception of Dracula, all actors play multiple roles, and the duplicate casting is often played to great comedic effect. King’s Renfeld exit and her Dr. Westfeld ‘s quick entrance in one moment in the show is particularly funny. Erle (as Van Helsing) playing a bit opposite her bed-ridden self as Mina is another inspiring moment of physical comedy.

This take on the material shuns Stoker’s slow burning novel (essentially letters exchanged via characters) with slapstick, theatrical chaos and, dare I say, more bite? The aspects of the original story reacting/responding to restrained Victorian-era sexuality are still present (The count is still an equal opportunity neck biter and no stranger to the occasional “thruple” apparently). Gender roles during Stoker’s time are very much turned on their head, though. Women are personally capable of saving themselves and are more often than not the smartest people on the stage at any given moment.

The pacing of Masino’s direction is fast. The show is intermission less and the 90 minutes fly by, leaving you wanting more.  Perhaps most importantly, while the book contemplated what if evil was seductive and crossed oceans, this play dares to ask “what if evil just wants its cake platter back?”  

You'll want to fly like a bat out of hell to grab your tickets for DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS, running hrough Feb. 22 at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue.

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