In Watertown, Melendy’s Dracula rises and shines

By Rich Fahey

WATERTOWN – Since 1897, the tale of Count Dracula told by Bram Stoker has been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated beyond recognition in a multitude of ways across every possible medium.

But, as Mel Brooks showed in “Young Frankenstein,” never quite this way. And so we have the Actors Shakespeare Project’s “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors,” a completely reimagined look that takes every conceivable opportunity to turn the tale hilariously on its head. even re-arranging the piece’s power structure at will.

The comedic thriller by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen gives new meaning to the word camp, for instance, and the competition among the cast to see who can go more gloriously over-the-top rages. The authors note that casting is done in the style of Monty Python and Charles Ludlam, so it is genderbending from the start and proud of it.

In this telling, Jonathan Harker (Nicholas Papayoanou), London’s most naive real estate agent, clashes with some of the most iconic characters in horror literature: Van Helsing, Renfield, Lucy, and of course, Count Dracula.

ASP Artistic Director Christopher V. Edwards has enlisted a cast of proven scene stealers to complete the task. It would be easy to say that Dracula is one of the many roles Norton Award-winning actor Paul Melendy was born to play, but since his character is already dead as the play begins, that would be technically incorrect.

Still, he comes off as a hyper-sexed refugee from the disco era, ready, willing and able to get it on with any or all of the characters in a full-blooded manner. His Dracula is ripped and proud of it, even if he’s shy about peeking at himself in a mirror. Sexually, he does, in baseball terms, swing at every pitch.

Edwards has called on two stalwarts from his resident company of artists: Doug Lockwood and the inimitable Bobbie Steinbach, both in dual roles that stretch their considerable comedic skills.  Steinbach plays Dr. Wallace Westfeldt, a misogynistic, bloviating sort who runs a lunatic asylum in the Whitby mansion where much of the action takes place, as well as Renfield, a decrepit inmate at the asylum who is also subservient to Dracula.  Her manic character changes —  which occur at the flip of a wig or in the middle of a sentence – are both wondrous and hilarious.

Lockwood plays Mina, the ginger-haired, sex-starved lonely daughter of Dr. Westfeldt, as well as Dr. Jean Van Helsing, a no-nonsense, take-charge German vampire hunter Dr. Westfeldt calls upon. In their scenes together, they are a walking, talking sight gag, Lockwood towering over Steinbach.

The aforementioned Harker, a prim and proper sort scared of his own shadow, is engaged to the lovely Lucy Westfeldt (Thalia Gerloff), Dr. Westfeldt’s other daughter and a brilliant, brave scientist. Gerloff will also portray a lying maid named Kitty, who becomes entangled in the goings-on.

 Harker has come to Transylvania to wrap up some business dealings with The Count, who is purchasing five London properties. When Harker shows a photo of Lucy to Dracula, he becomes obsessed. Eventually, that leads to Dracula purchasing Withering Manor, a decrepit property located in the same English town of Whitby where the Westfeldts live.  

The action will switch to the Westfeldt home in Whitby, where Lucy tells Mina about aa ghost ship that has arrived on shore with the entire crew dead and six coffins filled with dirt. Count Dracula was supposed to be on the ship and Harker says that he had invited Dracula to their engagement party that night and it appears he wouldn’t be coming.

Out of nowhere, Dracula makes a dramatic entrance, oozing charm and immediately makes advances on Lucy, only to be cornered by Mina. He loves the one he’s with and has to dance around the coincidences that begin to mount up after Mina’s suddenly grave illness.

Hilariously, for the longest time, the rather dim Renfield will be Suspect No. 1 as no one – even Van Helsing — will be able the connect the long series of dots that all lead to The Count, and he will wreak havoc.

Those who fall victims to Dracula’s charms will also undergo rather dramatic transformations, and none more so than the nebbish Harker, who emerges as a 180-degree version of his former self, aping Dracula’s leather pants and drawing renewed interest from Lucy.

There will be a vampire hunt, of course, and one rather energetic sexual coupling will occur before an ending that is perfectly in sync with the rest of the piece.  

Edwards, whose direction is sublime, has engaged a crack design team to make sure all of the elements of the traditional vampire thriller are intact, including the mysterious bat, the howling animals, and plenty of fangs where needed. Kudos to Danielle Ibrahim (scenic), Zoë Sundra (costumes), Brian J. Lillienthal (lighting), and Mackenzie Adamick (sound).

Tis the season for all things dead and undead to rise and shine. And this Dracula for the ages does both.

The Actors’ Shakespeare Project production of “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors.” Written Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. At the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, through Nov. 1. Actorsshakespeareproject.org