Dracula at Hartford Stage

Hit or Miss

By: Karen Isaacs - Oct 27, 2026

 

The production team for the American premiere of Dracula now at Hartford Stage have gone all out. There are enough spooky lighting effects, sounds, and scenery to build up the horror elements of this new adaptation of the Bram Stoker story.

But how you react to the play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm may depend on how much you appreciate – or not – this adaptation. To be cliché, it is not your mother’s Dracula.

At the performance I saw, the audience’s response was decidedly mixed, as I was. I could appreciate the stage craft but felt the play was misguided.

Malcolm has framed this as lecture/reenactment of the story by a group of six performers; four playing multiple roles. The point of this lecture seems to be to castigate and humiliate men or play up lesbian aspects of the tale. (The novel itself was told through letters, telegrams, diaries, and journals; most adaptations diminish that approach.)

This take on the story – which some critics say has homoerotic elements – creates several problems. First of all, it becomes more narrative than reenactment. Mina, a character in the original story, is in charge; she is telling the story and sermonizing as well as directing what happens and when. She becomes more and more didactic. This production doesn’t trust the audience to get the point; it must be hammered home multiple times.

Director Jackson Gay has played up these aspects

Secondly, you barely see Dracula himself. The title character is mostly missing from the play. It is centered on Mina, with Jonathan and Lucy secondary roles. She is in charge of the story.

A third aspect of this adaptation is the sexuality of the characters. It is clear from Jackson Gay’s direction that Mina has strong feelings for Lucy, well beyond being “best friends.”

The major plot points are recounted: Jonathan, Mina’s fiancé, goes to Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula who is buying property in England. His experiences are decidedly frightening, including having to escape when Dracula disappears, leaving him in the clutches of three vampire women. When Jonathan finally makes it back to England, Dracula has also arrived.  We proceed with the story of Lucy, Mina’s best friend though it is strongly suggested that they are more than “just friends.” And finally, it is the return to Transylvania and the demise of Dracula. Spoiler alert: the ending is not what you have seen in other versions of the story.

Riw Rakkulchon has created a set that is dark and frightening; it works beautifully as Dracula’s castle, but can also be a Victorian stage, with stage lights surrounding it. The sound design by Caroline Eng belongs in a haunted house — creeks, groans, wolf howls and more while Paul Whitaker’s lighting design keeps our focus on the action. One might consider it too dark. The costumes by Fabian Fidel Aguilar are mostly somber except for Lucy who is in white; but there are also marvelous spiders and other creatures.

Caitlin Elizabeth Clouthier, Anney Giobbe, and Pauli make up the ensemble, with scout Backus who also plays Lucy, sometimes joining them. They were particularly good as Lucy’s three suitors: Dr. John Seward, Quincey Morris, and Arthur Homwood, as well as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing.

Lucas Dixon as Jonathan has the unenviable role of being Mina’s creature, having to adapt and respond to her mercurial changes. He manages to still create a full character.

Sara Gutierrez is the strong-willed and dogmatic Mina. You may like her or you may find her off-putting.

The stagecraft makes Dracula worth seeing; but the play’s approach is misguided. Tickets are available at Hartford Stage.org.

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