COD's 'Dracula' brings all elements together for a 1930s feel

It's not Bram Stoker's original.

And it's definitely not "Twilight."

The adaptation of "Dracula" opening Friday, Oct. 16, at College of DuPage, embraces the conventions of theater in a 1930s setting.

"It's certainly not like the 'Twilights' or all of this new stuff on TV like 'True Blood,'" said director Amelia Barrett, an associate theater professor. "It's a real hat's-off to the theatrical force of Dracula - in my mind - in the theater as opposed to film."

"Dracula" makes a three-week run through Nov. 1 at Studio Theatre at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.

Set in 1933, this adaptation by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" tells the story of Lucy Seward, whose father runs an English sanatorium. After she acquires a mysterious illness, Dr. Van Helsing believes she has fallen victim to a vampire, possibly her new neighbor, Count Dracula.

Unlike the Stoker's original, this adaptation with eight cast members shows Lucy to be the love interest, rather than Nina, who is just a friend.

"Many of the characters are eliminated and combined," Barrett said. "I think it's still really true to the flavor of it, but it's obviously compressing thousands and thousands of pages into an hour and a half."

Costumes and makeup combine for a very romantic throwback to a time when being a man or a woman was very cut and dry, she said.

"It's very chic and long lines that accentuate what it means to be a woman or what it means to be a man. Formal," Barrett said. "Even the make-up designer has done a wonderful job of making everyone look like they're coming out of a different time period, almost the bridge between the silent film and talking."

While the play strives for an old black-and-white movie feel, that doesn't mean the cast and set will be bathed in grey.

"I've made the palate very controlled," said Barbara Niederer, costume designer for "Dracula" and costume shop manager at COD. "If you look at '30s movies, you see a lot of shading. For a moody piece like Dracula, the eyes are all very smoky dramatic. There's a lot of shading and sculpting with everybody's face with the make-up."

Lucy is glamorous and lovely, modeled after Joan Crawford, she said.

This adaptation combines all of the elements smoothly and they compliment each other in a way that keeps one aspect of set, makeup, costumes and lighting from standing out, Barrett said.

"It's a love letter to the theater in many ways," she said. "It's the thing that the theater does best, embracing all the conventions of the theater, where the audience can see and hear all the things going on. Rather than denying it, it's just embracing that."

Tickets are $10 for adults and $9 for seniors, COD students and youth. For information, call the MAC ticket office at (630) 942-4000.