Blood-sucking classic hits stage

The thirst for blood and the quest for immortality have found their way to IU as Bram Stoker's chillingly timeless horror "Dracula" opens the theater department's season at 8 p.m. tonight in the Lee Norville Theatre and Drama Center.\nEnglish Professor Joss Marsh, who specializes in Victorian literature and culture, will talk about Stoker's novel before play at 3 p.m. today in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre.\n"It's a very moving and entertaining and insightful play to open the season with," said Acting Professor Dale McFadden, the play's director. "The standards are high across the board." \nPlaywright Steven Dietz's adaptation of the 1897 novel was first brought to life in Arizona in 1995. McFadden said it's a compelling adaptation of one of the most enduring literary creations of all time.\n"This particular version of the play is a very good version, close to the novel, with a strong story involving content between characters that we don't really get in the movies," McFadden said.\nThe role of Dracula belongs to third-year Master's of Fine Arts student Sam Wootten, who will embody the character for his MFA thesis.\nIn looking at this season's roster, Wootten said there was a particular interest in finding and creating a rich and multi-dimensional lead character that was worthy of thesis work.\n"It was suggested that in 'Dracula' I might find some challenges that would specifically help me in my process," Wootten said. "The role was chosen because it was the title role and it had a lot of history to explore and research."\nPreparation began once the role was assigned. Wootten said he took the summer to read Stoker's novel and study art, architecture and dialects. He also saw the cinematic adaptations, which he said gave him an appreciation for the silent film actors of the 1920s and '30s.\n"Dracula" is also the thesis project for third-year MFA student Kristen Held, who is serving as the play's costume designer.\nHeld said she had certain ideas coming into the project that she wanted to incorporate into her designs. \n"In his novel, Stoker explores what lies beneath a proper Victorian façade, and I wanted the costumes to echo that somehow, especially the women," Held said. "In designing their costumes, I incorporated lots of sheer fabrics and layers so that we're always looking past the surface of a garment at what's underneath."\nHeld said there are around 25 created costumes for the play. \nAlthough the costume department had budgetary concerns, they had to decide the most important aspect of the design that the designers really want to go all out on. \n"In this case, it was obviously Dracula," Held said. "Sam also happens to be 6-foot-6, so we had to custom-build garments that would fit him."\nHeld said Christian iconography influenced the costumes. The literal translation of Dracula's name -- "dragon" -- inspired the design of his leather doublet and cape for the performance, meant to simulate a dragon's wings.\nAfter 20 hours of rehearsal per week for four weeks, McFadden had only positive things to say about his theses students. \n"Sam Wootten has done a wonderful job and created his own Dracula that is both believable and impressive to the audience," McFadden said. "Kristen created a very impressive array of costumes in the Victorian time in which the story is set, dealing with not only how Dracula and the vixens look, but the world of London as well."\nMcFadden said hopefully the play will take the audience away to another time and place. Like any good period show, he said, it says more on a deeper level about the present than it does about the past.\n"The novel will come alive with live actors in front of you, creating characters and people, not just the imagination of the reader, but the imagination filtered into an interpretative performance," McFadden said. "There are moments in the production where only in the theater, in the presence of other people, can you have a moment of insight and realization."\nWootten said he hopes the audience will make a connection with his performance and the play that will flesh out their appreciation for the artwork.\n"People connect to theater in ways they never can with film. A human shared experience is worth all the films ever made," Wootten said. "The impression created is indelible and palpable. When theater is done well, it is one of the greatest expressions mankind can make."\n"Dracula" opens Friday and plays at 8 p.m. nightly onOct. 9 and Oct. 11 through 16. Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $13 for students and seniors.\n-- Contact senior writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu .