In what might be one of the more interesting theatrical options for the Halloween season, Old World Wisconsin is staging a production of Seven Dietz's Dracula. The idea of having the historic, rural outdoor museum house a dramatic presentation of the classic work of horror is appealing on a few different levels.
Old World Wisconsin is a small, preserved farming community with that distinct 19th century flavor to it. It's far enough away from the city to feel rural and close enough to it that it wouldn't be a great ordeal to get there. (It's 35 miles from Milwaukee.) The 19th century Wisconsin farm museum should stand-in quite nicely for the late 19h century Transylvanian countryside.
The script that Old World Wisconsin is using for the staging was written by Steven Dietz in the mid-'90's. Renfield acts as narrator. It's been praised for its faithfulness to Stoker's original novel, which has also been the source of some criticism--the overly-rendered nature of the dialogue can keep it from feeling all that authentic. Given the right kind of staging, though, this could be fun. And given that the staging is taking place amidst architecture that has been preserved from the era of the original novel, this should be a really interesting production.
Old World Wisconsin's staging of Steven Dietz's Dracula runs October 14th -30th. Reservations are available through Old World Wisonsin's website.
