Dracula
Season 04, Episode 03
October 27, 2016
A recording of this episode is not available. Apologies.
Our first take on the man in black
Re-Imagined Radio presents a live performance of "Dracula" by the Willamette Radio Workshop at Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver, Washington. Adapted from the 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air performance, itself adapted from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel.
Access the episode script
The "Dracula (2016)" script is not available. Apologies.
Background
The blood. Oh, the blood!
Dracula, the legendary novel by Bram Stoker, first published in 1897, is considered one of the greatest horror novels ever written. The novel examines the concepts of lust, sex, gender roles, and society's fears of the unnatural during late 19th and 20th century Victorian society. Today, we accept the reality of vampires. In Stoker's time, they were but myth. Nobody knew what they were, or how to deal with them. Over time, the focus of its many interpretations has come to be how evil abnormality can evolve from one source and infect the surrounding society with discord and misfortunes. Dracula, the vampire, infects others with his evil.
Stoker, an Irish writer and theatre manager, drew inspiration for his novel from tales of Vlad the Impailer, or Dracula, born 1431 into a noble Transylvania family. His father was called "Dracul" because he belonged to the Order of the Dragon in Romania. "Dracula" means "son of Dracul." Therefore, Vlad was known as "son of the dragon" or "son of the devil" which may have been the beginning of the legend that he was a vampire.
As a warrior, Vlad was known to impale people on stakes and leave them to die. He was reported to have once dined among his victims, and to have eaten bread dipped in their blood. Killed in 1476, Dracula's head was cut off and displayed in Constantinople. In 1931, archaeologists exhumed his grave and took the skeleton to the History Museum in Bucharest, where it disappeared, leaving many mysteries about Prince Dracula unanswered and thus contributing to the legends surrounding Dracula.
On 11 July 1938, the The Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast Dracula as a radio drama and contributed to keeping these legends alive. Directed by and starring Orson Welles, as both Count Dracula and Doctor Seward, the cast also included Martin Gabel, Agnes Moorehead, George Coulouris and Ray Collins.
The performance was notable, but quickly forgotten as the cast and crew of the Mercury Theatre began immediately working on upcoming performances. Following the broadcast of The War of the Worlds, 30 October 1938, perhaps the most famous radio broadcast of all time, Welles noted the earlier performance of Dracula to defend the production of realistic tales of horror.
Production
Contents
A live performance of "Dracula" adapted from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel by Willamette Radio Workshop.
Cast
Patricia Blem
James Dineen
Carole Oberholtzer
Scott Jamieson
Atticus Welles Mowry
Sam A. Mowry
Credits
Directed by Sam A. Mowry
Music by Martin John Gallagher
Foley Sound Effects by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald with Patricia Blem and Atticus Welles Mowry
Dramatic Writing by Cynthia J. McGean
Magic Lantern by Joe Medina
Merchandizing by Jamie Lawson
Promotional Graphics by Sam A. Mowry
Produced by John F. Barber
Significance
Dracula, the legendary novel by Bram Stoker, first published in 1897, is considered one of the greatest horror novels ever written. The novel examines the concepts of lust, sex, gender roles, and society's fears of the unnatural during late 19th and 20th century Victorian society. Today, we accept the reality of vampires. In Stoker's time, they were but myth. Nobody knew what they were, or how to deal with them. Over time, the focus of its many interpretations has come to be how evil abnormality can evolve from one source and infect the surrounding society with discord and misfortunes. Dracula, the vampire, infects others with his evil.
Producer's Notes
A live performance by The Willamette Radio Workshop
Audience count: 270
Based on the 1938 performance by Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air.
Background (2016 Performance)
Mr. Bram Stoker, an Irish writer and theatre manager, wrote his 1897 novel Dracula to
address the fears and uncertainties of Victorian society in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Today, we accept the potentialities of vampires. In Stoker's time, they were but myth. Nobody knew what
they were, or how to deal with them.
Over time, Dracula, the character, has come to signify fears of the unnatural, and how abnormality can evolve from one source and infect the surrounding society with discord, misfortunes, and evil. Dracula, the vampire, infects others with his evil.
Movies based on the novel visualized Dracula, the vampire, infecting others with his evil. From this attention, Dracula's reputation grew like the arched back of an angry cat. In July 1938, Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air presented a radio drama adaption of Stoker's novel.
Since then, the radio script has lain dormant . . . buried in a box . . . covered with earth . . . waiting to emerge. It was revived through arcane galvanic sciences and careful administrations of elixers and tonics and is presented tonight for your listening pleasure.
Opening remarks
Good evening, and welcome to the historic Kiggins Theatre in downtown Vancouver. It is a perfect night
for tonight's performance of Dracula. Outside, a fog is drifting down Main Street. Skinny cats and
scrawny dogs prowl the green dumpsters and silver garbage cans. And in the distance, but getting more
close, we can hear the distinctive howls of wolves.
But fear not . . . we are here, safe in each other's company. That skittering you feel in your spine is shared by your neighbor, unless, of course, they are somehow immune to such things.
Tonight we begin the fifth season of the Re-Imagined Radio project with a program adapted from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.
Our intent is to share with you, the audience, how vintage radio dramas like "Dracula" were originally produced. You can watch the voice actors as they deliver their lines at these microphones . . . and you can watch the Foley artists as they create sound effects using improbable objects.
Or . . . you can close your eyes . . . and listen . . . . and imagine . . . if you dare.
Tonight's performance is made possible by generous support from Riverview Bank, Vancouver's Downtown Association, Kiggins Theatre, The Willamette Radio Workshop, Washington State University Vancouver, and the Creative Media & Digital Culture program. Re-Imagined Radio, like so many other community arts and entertainment activities, relies on this sort of generosity, and the dedication of audiences like yourselves. At the conclusion of tonight's performance, please consider making a donation to help secure our upcoming holiday performance. Every donation is appreciated and used to defray production costs.
Thank you for joining us tonight. Now, sit back and relax. Otherwise, you will not feel a thing. Please
welcome, with their spine-tingling, teeth-clenching, finger-biting, and hair-raising performance of
Dracula, The Willamette Radio Workshop, directed by Sam A. Mowry . . .
— John F. Barber
Promotion
Press
Hewitt, Scott. Kiggins Presents Radio-Drama Production of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'→. The Columbian, 22 Oct. 2016.
Graphics
