Draconian spectacle

The rich spoilt brat… a dominative mother… the dim-witted governess who is continuously humiliated…the very strange and typical German couple… the disfigured servant who secretly loves his mistress's daughter.

When the students of this year's Theatre Arts class of the Overseas School of Colombo had to devise a play as part of their course requirement and came across Dracula Spectacular, little did they know that they would end up creating something quite extraordinary. Their production, a musical titled The Vamp Draculina, which would be performed this month is a very abstract and student-devised version of the original Dracula Spectacular, with the well-known vampire taking the form of a seductive female. The Sunday Times caught up with the cast and their Director who told us about the play and their characters.

"Dracula Spectacular was used as a skeleton and this is very different to the original play," says Bryan Lee, the Director of the production. He added that although it is part of the curricular of those taking Theatre Arts, the whole secondary is involved in the production.

Describing the production as a black comedy, Bryan said that the audience needs to be much more than simple passive recipients. "It contains humour, yet at the same time it gives a very serious and timely message to society. There are lots of underlying themes and it is up to you to watch and understand," Bryan says. The musical also embraces the concept of the outsider and explores misconception and miscommunication, he explained, adding that each character reflects the diverse people in today's world. "Every member of the audience would be able to relate to these characters and they could also find their counterparts."

The plot revolves around Draculina, a night club singer who is looking for a real purpose in life. She is a vampire and has a strong seductive power. "Draculina is somewhat afraid of herself," says Sandali Handagama who plays the role of the protagonist. "She is a rich spoilt brat," her co-stars says adding that Draculina has a witty side to her, especially when dealing with the Governess.

The Governess, Nadia, is the rather unconventional teacher. "She is a little dimwitted. As the teacher, people would expect me to be more dominant, but it is the opposite here. She is continuously humiliated and wants to overcome this and become more demanding," Nafeesa Dawoodhboy who plays the role explains, adding that Draculina has control over her.

Genghis, who serves Draculina and her mother Countess Wraith, has secret feelings for the girl. "But he knows this is not right," says Sacha de Alwis Seneviratne who plays the role of the servant. "He understands that he is of a lower class and it is his duty to serve the Countess and her daughter.

He is also disfigured, but he does not see that as a negative feature," Sacha explains. Countess Wraith, meanwhile is a dominative character. Yet at the same time, she understands that she is not always rights. She is also in denial", Amanda Bertus says of her character, adding that the Countess is bizarre and breaks out into tantrums quite often.

Then there is the very strange German couple who runs a karaoke bar and adds humour to the play. "Hans (the husband) is easily distracted, he changes moods very fast and I would say he is someone who has an emotional intelligence of a 7-year-old. He doesn't understand the seriousness of issues and takes most things as a joke," says Andreas Dijsselbloem of his character.

"This is an original play. Even the music is original and the students have worked very hard," Bryan said. And as the cast explains, this has been a bumpy ride, yet an amazing learning experience.

"This is the first major production for all of us. It was a challenge. There was a lot of brainstorming, but at the end it brought all of together. It involves much more than talent and skill.

There was tension and it was a gruelling task, but has been very interesting," David Reeve Stonecipher, who is the narrator of the play explains, adding that his role involves ensuing the continuity of the story and highlighting certain concepts.

Although those taking Theatre Arts would play the main characters and are involved with the bulk of the play, as the director explains, the production is a collaborative process which would see the entire secondary school take part.

"Around 240 students would take part and this includes the choir, band, dancers and musicians," he said. As he further notes, the play reflects the diversity within the school as well as the variety of characters we meet in our lives, giving us a chance to get to know the people we often tend to ignore.

The Vamp Draculina would be performed on March 27 and 28 at the OSC auditorium at 7.00 pm Tickets are available at the school business office and gate.