“Dracula” adaptation to take the stage at Centenary College October 4-7
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Theatre Program (CTP) opens its 2023-2024 season next month at the College’s Marjorie Lyons Playhouse with Kate Hamill’s Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy. Centenary alumna Charity Schubert returns to campus to direct Hamill’s reimagining of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, which was commissioned by the off-Broadway Classic Stage Company and premiered in early 2020.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. on October 4 through 7 at Centenary's Marjorie Lyons Playhouse.
Hamill, named Playwright of the Year in 2017 by the Wall Street Journal, has gained critical acclaim for her feminist and female-centered reimagining of classic works as well as new original stories, including adaptations of Little Women, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, among others. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway and across the country, including at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Dallas Theater Center, and the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Charity Schubert directed another adaptation of a classic, Erica Schmidt’s MAC BETH, for CTP in March 2023. The production was critically acclaimed and added two encore performances due to community demand. She is excited to be tackling a new challenge with Hamill’s Dracula adaptation.
“Kate Hamill’s Dracula is an exciting new play that turns the tables on a horror classic,” explained Schubert. “Basing her play very loosely on Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel, Hamill confronts the sexism in the original text and reimagines the story as a tale of rebellion and liberation against gender norms and patriarchal restrictions. This stylized production will be unlike any version of Dracula audiences have seen before, with gender flipped characters and all the old rules for vampires tossed gleefully aside. Frightening, funny, razor-sharp, and thought-provoking, this feminist romp of an adaptation is not to be missed.”
Schubert is working with a talented cast made up of new and returning CTP students. Calvin Green, a first-year student from Wishaw, Scotland, is appearing as Dracula; junior Emma Greer, of Minden, Louisiana, is Lucy; senior Theresa Johnson, a Shreveport native, is Mina Harker; senior AR Rossomando, of Dallas, Texas, is Jonathan Harker; senior Mary Caruthers, of Fort Worth, Texas, is Renfield; Channing Hall, a junior from Baton Rouge, is filling the role of Van Helsing; and Dylan Phillips, a first-year CTP member from Shreveport, is Doctor George Seward.
The ensemble cast also includes Grace Aguirre (Cedar Hill, Texas), Hailey Chiasson (Haughton, Louisiana), Josie Hodges (Shreveport), and Dylynn Vinson (Cedar Hill, Texas).
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors/military members, and $10 for students with ID. Tickets are free for Centenary students, faculty, and staff with ID. Visit centenary.edu/mlptickets to purchase tickets.
For more information about the Centenary Theatre Program, visit centenary.edu/theatre.