DRACULA Comes To Portland Center Stage In Time For Halloween

This holiday season, Portland Center Stage brings a twist on the classic vampire story that’s perfect for the dark, spooky nights of winter in Portland, Oregon.

Playwright Kate Hamill’s work has been previously seen on PCS stages with Sense and Sensibility (2019) and Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B (2023), and her adaptation of Bram Stoker’s beloved novel Dracula offers a meditation on toxic masculinity present in those fear-inducing predators who are so often labeled as the sexy, interesting, and captivating protagonists. Put away the twinkly lights and eggnog, and pack your purse full of garlic for Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, November 25 through December 24, sponsored by Portland’s Regional community. Tickets are on sale now, including sliding scale tickets for BIPOC Affinity Night, a.k.a. The People’s Party, on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:30 p.m. 

Drawn into the story of Dracula because of consistently “male-gazed” versions of the vampiric tale throughout media history, Hamill challenges well-worn cliches of helpless damsels and charming villains (you know the ones), transforming the biting classic into a full-throated battle cry as her strong female leads joyfully thrust a stake through the heart of misogyny. In this gory, scary, and playful take on the quintessential vampire tale, which follows Dracula’s original plot, we learn that the real monsters are walking among us: destroy one, and there’s always another in its place. Will Mina Harker save her friend, her husband… herself? Will #NotAllMen-era George Seward get in the way of Dr. Van Helsing’s life-saving ministrations? How can one actually put a stake directly into the heart of the insidious and all-too-familiar patriarchy?

“I’m excited to bring this fierce and chilling play to life this holiday season,” says Artistic Director Marissa Wolf. “Hamill’s text marries the edge-of-your-seat exhilaration of an engrossing thriller with a powerful indictment of the ways that misogyny infects all of humanity. It’s going to be a wild, wonderful ride!”

This alternative holiday offering will be led by Portland Center Stage’s Artistic Director, Marissa Wolf; crypts, bedrooms, and asylums will be brought to life by Scenic Designer Diggle; modern will meet archaic through costume designs by Jenny Ampersand; foggy nights and eerie vibes will abound through lighting design by Carl Faber; spooky sounds will fill the air with sound design by Ash. Our brilliant, entirely local cast has been gathered by Casting Director Chip Miller. Plus, we’ll see gorgeous intimacy and fight choreography from Heath Hyun and Jacquelle Davis, respectively.  Yes, there will be wooden stakes and lots and LOTS of blood!

The cast of Dracula is an entirely Portland local cast, featuring familiar PCS faces such as Ashley Song (Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B, Rent, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Darius Pierce (Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B, The Great Leap), Nikki Weaver (Major Barbara), Sammy Rat Rios (Young Americans), Treasure Lunan (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Jamie Rea (It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), plus La’Tevin Alexander (Wine in the Wilderness), Cycerli Ash (A Comedy of Errors reading and JAW 2023), and introducing Setareki Waiqinolo to the PCS stage!

For more information on the Portland Center Stage production this winter, please visit https://www.pcs.org/dracula-a-feminist-revenge-fantasy-really.

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