First Folio brings gothic tale 'Castle of Otranto' to the stage

First Folio's David Rice retired from teaching last May and he's still working long hours. Such is the life of a managing director and unofficial house playwright. His latest project is a new adaptation of the 18th century gothic horror novel, "The Castle of Otranto," by Horace Walpole, opening in previews Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Oak Brook's First Folio.

Mostly known today to college English majors as one of the early founders of the gothic horror genre, Walpole was in his day an admired, best-selling author. Jane Austen loved his work well enough she used it as a model for her earliest novels.

"'The Castle of Ortano' started a literary movement," Rice says, sounding just like the high school English teacher he was, "that lead directly to Percy Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker." And from there, the trail leads to Anne Rice and Stephen King, the Twilight series and the Vampire Diaries.

How did Rice settle on adapting this obscure, seldom-read tome?

"I give my wife the credit on this one," Rice says. His wife is Alison Vesely, artistic director and co-founder (with Rice) of the First Folio Theatre. Rice and Vesely were discussing a follow-up to Rice's very popular Halloween show "The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story."

"My wife brought the book to my attention," Rice says. "She had read it in college and remembered liking it. She said it was the original gothic horror story so I read it - and it was tremendous fun. The novel is about a family curse, and the hero, Baron Manfred, is trying everything he can to avoid the family curse."

Rice and Vesely were especially drawn to a gothic tale because their performing space is the recently refurbished Mayslake Hall, a 30-room Tudor Revival style mansion set in the middle of the park where First Folio Theatre has been staging their outdoor Shakespeare productions for the past 14 summers.

First Folio began performing in this Hall in 2005, when Rice and Vesely turned their summer-only theater into a year-round enterprise. This was a culmination of Rice and Vesely's dream. Rice, a longtime resident of the Western suburbs (he went to high school in Glen Ellyn and now lives in Clarendon Hills), had long believed they could find their niche in the suburban theater scene. The facts have seemed to prove him right.

The only downside is that success must be built on. Hence Rice, who scored a hit with his 2006 adaptation of Poe, had to follow it up with another gothic horror. The upside is that Rice, who has been working on this project off and on since April, has enjoyed translating Walpole's book to the stage.

"In my adaptation," Rice says, "I have tried to take some of the romantic sensibilities of Jane Austen, to add more romance to the story, and mix with a lot of Errol Flynn swashbuckling. My adaptation has two murders in it, and three ghosts, and three sword fights. There is a ghostly painting that comes to life, and a couple of other things that I don't want to give away that will make the audience to go oh!"

•"The Castle at Ortano" opens in previews Wednesday, Sept. 30. The opening is Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 1 at Mayslake Hall at the Mayslake Peabody Estate at 31st and Route 83 in Oakbrook. For tickets call (630) 986-8067 or go to firstfolio.org.