Dracula | Theater + Dance | NUVO News | Indianapolis, IN

Two stars Artbox Productions; The Asylum House in German Park; directed by Jason Hignite

For their inaugural production, Artbox Productions is kicking off the Halloween season early with Dracula, set, appropriately, in a haunted house attraction, The Asylum. The adaptation by Steven Dietz leaves something to be desired, but since most people know the storyline its easy enough to mentally gloss over the rough spots. Act 1 has too many 30-Second Bunnies Theatre attributes Harkers narrations are abrupt summations of what the audience is missing. And some of the actors accents are nothing if not comical as is Draculas old lady wig and the phallic transfusion equipment (I kept hearing Austin Powers: Its not my bag, baby!). Under Jason Hignites vision, Jeffrey Sanford as Renfield is certainly enthusiastic, but Joshua Ramsey as the count, Allison Reddick as Mina, Mindy Steele as Lucy, Terrence Dellinger as Seward and Mark Meyer as Harker are unimaginative in their performances. The clichd portrayals of the characters make them uninteresting. And Van Helsing seems like a character from a Mel Brooks movie. If Hignite had just given in and gone B-style with the production (it's unintentionally on the edge as is), this show could have been a riot. But in trying to play it straight, it flounders. Patrick Greathouses set design is nice, though, and the unusual location is interesting. Maybe more can be done with this partnership idea in the future. Through Sept. 28; http://www.theasylumhouse.com.

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Dracula | Theater + Dance | NUVO News | Indianapolis, IN