‘Dracula’ served up straight at Firehouse Theater

The classic story gets a first-rate production at the John Hand Theater

Firehouse Theater Company has opened its new season with a spectacular production of Dracula by Steven Dietz — an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. As directed by Julie K Wolf, the production features a bevy of bizarre and bloodthirsty characters that come alive in The John Hand Theater. The entire production is exceptionally well produced and has a talented cast loaded with many newcomers to Firehouse for this season opener.

Following closely to the original source as penned by Stoker, the play opens with the introduction to perhaps one of the most mind-bending characters ever, Renfield (Johnathan Underwood) as he dines upon various living creatures in his cell of the asylum where he is forcibly held. Renfield acts as a narrator of sorts and is also a pawn to Dracula, assisting him in various plots to capture unsuspecting victims.

Dracula (Andrew Horsford) is introduced when Harker (Josiah Peters), a lawyer, travels to ever-spooky Transylvania to propose a business deal to Dracula. Held captive by Dracula, things quickly go south as Harker flees his captor and returns to his fiancée Mina (Elicia Hesselgrave) in England.

Josiah Peters as Harker and Elicia Hesselgrave in ‘Dracula’ Photo: Soular Radiant Photography

Dracula follows Harker to England in pursuit of new horizons (and fresh blood) and immediately pursues Mina and her best friend, Lucy () who eventually falls ill. Lucy’s suitor, Dr. Seward (Abid Hassan) is called upon to diagnose her condition only to discover two small puncture wounds on her neck. What might those be? At this point, Van Helsing (Gabe Combs), a well-known vampire hunter, is called upon to assess the situation and the play reaches a crescendo when Van Helsing and Seward follow Dracula back to Transylvania and eventually stop the notorious vampire from further devastation.

In the title role, Horsford is every bit Dracula as one can imagine. Both charismatic and creepy, we are drawn to him throughout — and at times may even sympathize with him a bit. This is Horsford’s first production with Firehouse Theater Company, and it is an impressive debut.

As the terrifying Renfield, Underwood has captured the mind of a madman and is both vocally and physically enmeshed in the character. Underwood sets the tone for the entire performance from the very beginning and pops up throughout with frightening episodes. Watch as he closes the performance with an insightful piece of advice both thought-provoking and worthwhile.

Others in the cast of particular note include Combs as Van Helsing and Hesselgrave as Mina. Combs is a tried-and-true vampire hunter, and his take-charge performance matches his serious approach to hunting Dracula. Hesselgrave plays an important role in the overall storyline, and she rises to the occasion admirably throughout. The ensemble (Andrea Alfano, Sridevi (Sri) Bangaru, B Glick, Stevie Wise) adds more than a dash of the scary stage antics that seem to follow Dracula everywhere he goes.

Wolf directed this production with a straightforward interpretation of the classic Dracula story. Although there is humor in the dialogue, the overall tone of this production is nothing to laugh at. This is a serious retelling of the famous horror story and on that level, it provides a solid two-plus hours of edge-of-your-seat scary action.

Shyan Rivera plays Lucy | Photo: Soular Radiant Photography

Equally impressive are the sound design by Rick Reid and the lighting design by Emily Maddox. The cues are fast and tight, and they come together flawlessly providing for an increased sense of impending doom.

This production of Dracula may not be for the faint of heart, filled as it is with authentically scary moments and creepy characters. For the rest of us, it is an enormously satisfying and enjoyable opening production at Firehouse for the spooky season.