Not your typical blog, I know. But we are coming upon Halloween, and they just released a new Dracula movie. I had to put my two cents in.
I finished this play a couple of years ago and have been wanting to do a staged reading. Maybe, one day. Of course, seeing it produced would be even better.
So here is an excerpt from Dracula: Annotated.
DRACULA: Annotated
© Lee Rennick 2006
A play in two acts.
Setting
The action of the play begins in early May1888 and ends in early
November, traveling between Transylvania and areas in and around London,
England. The stage has a multiple level set so the scenes flow into each other
seamlessly.
ACT I
Scene 1
(An eerie
fog rolls in as a lone wolf howls, followed by another, and then another.
Dressed as ancient maenads in wolf skins, ILONA and ELIZABETA hunt a PEASANT
GIRL who runs up a staircase, which dominates the center of a multi-level set,
into the arms of the just entering DRACULA. His pale white skin, wild barbaric
looks, and above-average height are imposing. He is dressed in the Slavic style
with a coat of blood-red Oriental silk embroidered with golden dragons and
gathered at the waist by a thick black leather belt. His untamed white hair
falls below his shoulders, yet his moustache is neatly trimmed. At his entrance
the wolf-call ceases.)
ILONA
(Nodding
to the GIRL)
My
Lord, I have brought you the innocent you desire.
(DRACULA
holds the GIRL in his arms like a lover, looking deep into her eyes. She cannot
escape his iron grip.)
DRACULA
You
have watched her movements to make sure she is pure?
(He runs a hand down the front of the terrified
girl’s body.)
ELIZABETA
(Vying for
DRACULA’s attention)
I
did as you told me to do. I watched her for months. No man has touched her.
ILONA
We
all watched her.
DRACULA
Excellent!
(DRACULA
attacks the GIRL viciously, plunging his fangs (which the audience doesn’t see)
into her throat and drinking deeply. He stops suddenly, his mouth covered in
blood.)
ELIZABETA
(Frightened
he is not happy with the GIRL)
Is
it not good?
(He
discards the GIRL at the top of the stairs in a heap. He moves towards
ELIZABETA. Pulling her to him, he kisses her passionately. She licks some of
the blood off of her lips and is sent into ecstasy. She goes to drink from the GIRL.)
ILONA
(Petulant)
I
want some!
(He goes
to ILONA and kisses her with even more ardor. She joins ELIZABETA.)
DRACULA
(Thinking
out loud)
Even
innocent blood does not affect me like….What a world I saw when I drank of….
ELIZABETA
Of
what do you speak, my Lord?
DRACULA
I
wish new blood! Modern conveyances have opened our mountains to Western
travelers; soon they will deposit me in Europe’s heart – London.
ILONA
(Her mouth
bloody)
We
will go with you? Taste this new blood?
(DRACULA ignores the questions, but responds to the far off sound of
wolves.)
DRACULA
Your
sister, Kathrina, brings a visitor from the Borgo Pass.
(Pointing to the GIRL.)
Remove
her.
(He wipes the last of the blood from his
mouth with his hand.)
Then,
go make our new guest feel…
(He smiles cruelly.)
wanted.
To be continued…
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