Plains Drama Club gets in the Halloween spirit

It's sometimes scary to go to school and last weekend it was especially scary when a vampire from Transylvania came to visit.

The Plains Drama Club gave two performances of "Dracula" in the school's multipurpose room and gymnasium Saturday and Sunday. Nearly 120 people attended the Saturday evening show and almost 75 people showed up for the Sunday afternoon performance.

"Broadway has come to Plains High School," said Dr. Kathleen Walsh, the school superintendent, who thought it was a great performance. The seven actors - Django Oakcedar, as Renfield, Logan Steinebach as Dr. Seward, Cecilia Harris as Mrs. Harker, Keelie Hathorne as Abigail, Emma Dimond as Lucy, Mackenzie Tulloch as Professor Van Helsing, and Greg Tatum as Dracula - put on Crane Johnson's dramatic version of Bram Stoker's "Dracula." The drama club normally has three performances, but didn't have one on Friday because Tatum was part of the football team and had the last game of the season scheduled for that day. The performances went just over an hour.

The two-act play setting was done in the study of Dr. Seward in his English manor. The performance lasted just over an hour and received a positive reaction from the crowd. Seward was to marry Lucy, who comes down with a mysterious ailment and dies. The doctor has Renfield at the house as part of a research project. It's obvious that Renfield has some unusual tendencies, such as eating live flies and spiders. There are other strange occurrences, such as howling wolves and children with strange marks on their necks. Mrs. Harker has a strange episode, along with small marks on her neck and believes she might become a vampire.

Dr. Van Helsing, a metaphysician, arrives and suspects that the occurrences have something to do with the occult. It isn't long after that Van Helsing meets Dracula, Seward's neighbor, and figures out that he is the infamous Count Dracula of five centuries ago. She said she had traced him to England, but could not find where he was hiding.

Renfield becomes a servant of Dracula and later succumbs. Van Helsing finds that Lucy is a vampire, finds out where she is hiding and drives a stake through her heart. She and Seward start looking for Dracula's secret lair, which they discover in a hidden space below the house. Seward drives a stake through his Dracula's heart.

"These people produced this incredible story and did such a wonderful job," said Terri Henry, the drama coach, who added that they haven't done a Halloween type play in about 15 years. "They were spot on with their timing," said Henry, who was particularly pleased that Peter Richardson of Plains volunteered his expertise to help with the sound system.

The kids had been rehearsing since early September for five days a week, two hours a day, said Henry, the drama coach for more than 30 years. Cathy Emmett once again served as makeup technician and was an assistant director, along with Ivy Horodyski. RuBea Privett served as the lights technician and Claire Lakko did sound effects.

"I thought they did a great job," said Trista Brown. "Django really nailed his part and Cecilia got my girls jumping from her spot-on screams. The revised story line fit well with utilizing the single set and our small group of excellent kids and leaders," she said. "It was a wonderful rendition of Dracula, from the lighting and makeup, to the well-delivered lines by all the actors. We can't wait until the next production," said Dede Johnson of Plains.

"I'm certainly going to miss the seniors immensely and not just in numbers. They have a lot of talent and are very diverse," Henry said of the four seniors - Oakcedar, Steinebach, Tulloch, and Privett - though they will have the opportunity to participate in the school's spring play. Steinebach and Tulloch were the leads and had the most lines. "It was a big process to remember all those lines, but it's been quite an enjoyment," said Steinebach, who hasn't acted with the club since he was an eighth-grader. Oakcedar, the drama club president, was praised by several fans about his part in the play. He's been with the club all four years and said he had a lot of fun as Renfield.

"We thoroughly enjoyed it. It was wonderful seeing these students we've watched grow up portray their characters in such unique ways," said Melissa Brown of Paradise. "It was thrilling from beginning to end with the screams, howling of wolves, and intricate dialogue. Great job PHS drama," she added.