DRACULA
Temple Theatre
120 Carthage Street, Sanford
919-774-4512
www.templeshows.com
Through Nov. 2
A meta-moment of a different sort than in Torry Bend’s If My Feet Have Lost the Ground figures into most productions of DRACULA. As everybody knows, the guy with the hypodermic grin is a master manipulator of human emotionsas was novelist Bram Stoker, and as is any stage artist worth their salt.
In this Temple Theatre production, lead actor Ira David Wood IV holds up his end of the bargain, under guest Corey Brunish’s direction. Their convincing take on the countwith strategic vocal reinforcement from sound designer Steve Harringtonis a matinee idol recently returned from the land of the dead: self-assured, charismatic and totally devoid of conscience.
But uneven work among supporting actors, a script that hopscotches across the doomed Lucy’s three suitors and occasional costuming and makeup gaffes make this holiday offering a bit less … incisive than it could be. Happy Halloween.
This article appeared in print with the headline “Master of puppets”
