Good Vs Evil In Dracula

The play that was shown at Utica College, Dracula, had a theme that portrayed tragedy or good vs. evil. Tragedy can be described as the theme for this play because the play consisted of a fight between love and life, where in the process there were a lot of deaths. The director’s vision of this play resembled that a common story of tragedy. This play is considered to be a core concept because there was no suprising or unexpected elements throughout the play, such that the concept was, indeed succesfully supported by the theme of the play. There were any improper choices made by the dicrector that could’ve contradicted the theme of this play. Although, the director did a great job with the movements. The movements enhanced the theme of the play by creating suspense. For example, when the characters began to fight for protection and were being pushed all over the stage, it made the play extra interesting and suspensful. There was nothing odd within the play that didn’t support the play’s core concept. Everything that was done by the director supported the concept as well. The actors in the play Dracula did a great job representing their characters. Specifically their voices and
facial expressions. Almost every character spoke with an accent to represent the location and time period, rather than just speaking in modern language. The accents really added to the play by giving the audience a better sense of setting. The way they used voice tone was very well done too. The audience knew when they were either happy, relieved or devastated due to the pitch. For example, when they found Mina hurt in bed, the tone of voice grew within the characters to portray the devestation. Either they were very quiet or they were yelling. There was also a few scenes where the characters screamed in fear, which successfully supported the concept of the play. They also incorportated a lot of facial expressions that really emphasized what their character was feeling. Although, some of the characters did not use an accent and different so it was a bit confusing as to why they weren’t using one while everyone else was. The scenery was one of the best elements of this play. Everything on set fit the theme and concept perfectly. All props looked mysterious and created an eerie feeling. The caskets, fire place, chairs, and door ways all resembled a different time period, and a more horrific feel. Almost all scenery was done with black, grey or white colors, which added to the dark side of this play. Specifically the fire place caught me eye because it looked very realistic. The trim that was on the fireplace gave it a very old look, perfect for the concept of this play. One of the most successful pieces of scenary was the casket that Dracula himself laid in. Not only did it resemble an actual casket and was painted in dark colors to add to the horror, but the casket was made so that Dracula can punch through it. This added to the representation of Dracula’s strength and invincibility. The lighting in this play was also well done and supported the concept. Above the stage there were lamps hanging off the ceiling, resembling somewhat old chandaliers. These lights also added to the setting and concept of the play because these chandeliers looked like they were from older times, and because they were dim it gave the stage a very eerie feeling. The overall lights were succesfull although the I would’ve liked to see more LED colors used throughout the play. What was noticed was blue, purple and perhaps red lights. Although it would’ve been nice to see more colors used, the ones that were incorporated were used properly used. With that being said, yes, the lights were effective. One significant portion of the lighting was when the lights would flicker with the flow of thunder on stage. The lighting also did a good job of cues and focusing on different characters when they were needed. For example, the chorus. The chorus would appear on different sides of the stage at different times, and each time, the lighting successfully focused directly on them. The costumes throughout this play could have been better.
The costumes were too plain and there were only a few creative costumes. Only certain costumes supported the concept of the play because they represented time period and location. Others did not have any specific style to support the theme and just looked like modern wordrobe, such like the suits the men were wearing. It was too common. One costume that did fit the concept and theme was Dracula’s costume. He wore a cape that represented his character very well. Although some costumes did not have special representations, all costumes seemed to be comfortable on each character. They were able to move and function in the costumes. For example, the costumes were so functionable that theyw ere able to fight, fall and crawl in
them. Finally, the sounds throughout this play were also very well done. The sound supported the concept because the music and sound effects that were played made the play very mysterious and suspenful. Very subtle sound effects were added, but they created very realistic scenes. For example, when Mina was talking to one of the characters on a bench, there were birds chirping in the background noise. This led the audience to believe they were sitting outside. Also, the music that was playing before the play even started gave the audience an idea of what the theme was. There was very slow, quiet and mysterious music being played that successfully supported the concept of Dracula, and hinted that the play was going to be about tragedy.