Bite Into ETC’s ‘Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors’ at the New Vic in Downtown Santa Barbara
Spooky-Spirited Production ‘Amps Up the Sexy and Plays Down the Horror’
This October, Ensemble Theatre Company is getting in the spooky spirit with Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s outrageous, shirt-splitting comedy, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors. This spoofy bloodlust riot tells the familiar story of the dreaded Count of Transylvania — but in Comedy of Terrors, Bram Stoker’s “creature of the night” is closer on the monster scale to Frank N. Furter’s “muscle man” than Bela Lugosi’s gothic icon.
Adam Hagenbuch plays Dracula, who, judging by the promo images, has been hitting the 24-hour gym. Hagenbuch calls Comedy of Terrors an approach to the classic tale that “amps up the sexy and plays down the horror,” comparing the show’s style to comedies like Young Frankenstein. “It’s Halloween-themed; it fits perfectly in the season,” he says. “We might as well be handing candy out at the front.”
Director Jamie Torcellini describes the play as a send-up of the 1931 Dracula film with a hip, sexy aesthetic and a ludicrous tone. “We are taking risks with the limits of where we’ll go with the thirst for blood and sex,” he says, noting the outlandishness the production is daring to achieve. “As soon as Dracula rips off his shirt, it’s going to be mayhem anyway,” he says of his sculpted vampire lead, “especially when he makes his boobs jump up and down.” (Hagenbuch confirms much trial and error while working with tear-away shirts.)
Beyond the absurdity, Torcellini promises enough smart humor to make the show appealing to a wider audience. “These actors are true to their characters,” he says of the cast, many of whom are onstage most of the show, in and out of quick changes, playing a multitude of characters. “Comedy comes from good actors knowing how to land a comic moment.”
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors runs October 9-26 at the New Vic (33 W. Victoria St.), including certain special event nights, such as Pride Night on October 24. For the complete schedule and ticket information, see etcsb.org.
