GLASS APPLE OPENS RADIO INSPIRED DRACULA
Glass Apple Theatre is welcoming fall to Chicago this week with their opening of Orson Welles’ Dracula. Artistic Director, Brian McKnight chatted with us about his adaptation: the inspirations, why dread beats gore, and how paring theatre down amplifies the actor/audience experience. Dracula opens Aug. 26 and runs until Sept. 25 at Raven Theatre.
Q. Based on Orson Welles' radio adaptation and Bram Stoker's novel, your adaptation seems to fall somewhere very fluid on the literary spectrum. What makes it so genre bending?
A. Taking Orson’s radio version as its foundation, the show is presented in a hybrid style where the actors are separated as though on microphones (but they aren’t) like the original radio broadcast in 1938, with a full period costume design, lighting design and sound projections. The focus is on actors telling an age-old story in a new way.
Q. You give a nod to the late ShawChicago Theatre Company, how was your production inspired by their work?
A. ShawChicago used to do magnificently acted productions of plays by George Bernard Shaw but without any bells and whistles (i.e., no lighting design, minimal costumes, no blocking.). I found these productions to be among the most enjoyable times I ever spent in a Chicago Theatre: without all the extra razzle dazzle, the focus was on the acting and on Shaw’s words. The actors were all standing in front of music stands with the script open in front of them, and they rarely (if ever) actually looked at one another on stage. So, a curious thing happened for those of us in the audience: because we weren’t distracted, we could really focus on each actor’s performance, and so in our imaginations, the show became a series of close-ups. For me, I felt more connected to the journey of each actor and I felt that the story was being shared just with me. I admit it’s tough for me to put into words and I struggle with conveying how truly memorable those shows were, even without any technical elements to speak of.
With Orson Welles’ Dracula, I am hoping to tap into the power that ShawChicago presented so effortlessly, but with the various tech elements that the 21st century allows.
Q. With inspiration from radio and theatre readings, are there challenges to staging or special effects? Do you believe there can still be spook with no blood or gimmicks?
A. You’ve hit on a really important aspect of our production! The actors will not have any hand-held props (letters, etc) and there will be no blood and no bite marks. In an age of CGI and virtual reality, I still feel that our individual imagination is the best VFX artist there ever was. My hope is that we will successfully create an atmosphere that encourages the audience member to experience the story in their imagination in a way they haven’t needed to do for quite some time. I think that we can spook without the sensationalistic shock elements. There is a sense of dread that permeates Stoker’s novel and it’s that sense of impending doom that we hope the audience will feel. This is more important to this production than perhaps traditional shock elements are. I’m banking on an audience being drawn into the human elements of the story, and that they will actually have a more potent visceral reaction to the horror of the play without the need for gimmicks. Perhaps I give the audience too much credit, but I don’t think so.
Q. As a company committed to sparking community conversations, what are your hopes for Dracula's conversation starters?
A. The character of Mina Murray-Harker (played by Madeline Logan in our production) is one of the strongest, most powerful female characters in the genre. But in most productions of Dracula (including the famous films that I adore) she is often relegated to the weak, defenseless damsel trope, or eliminated entirely in favor of watching the men rushing in to save the day. In the novel, and in our production, the male characters are often helpless and confused, and, at various times in the play, feel that all hope is lost - but never Mina. She is steely-eyed and focused throughout, and I hope audiences will respond positively to seeing her as the driving force behind the battle against Dracula. It would be gratifying to hear that the play compelled audience members to return to a rereading of Stoker’s novel, to see if this interpretation is the true one. Spoiler alert: it is.
Q. This show kicks off some major fall vibes. Tell us what we really want to know: pumpkin spice or no pumpkin spice?
A. Pumpkin Spice all day long!
