Dracula
A feminist revenge fantasy, really
Written by Kate Hamill
Based loosely on novel by Bram Stoker
Directed by Gina Stanton
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Audition Dates​​
August 2026 (dates to be announced)
Performance Dates​
Performances tentatively scheduled for the last two weekends in October 2026.
(Proposed dates: October 23, 24, 25, 30, & 31, 2026)
Location
Katonah SPACE
44 Edgemont Road
Katonah, NY 10536
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​​Audition Prep
Auditioners will be able to choose from a monologue from Dracula (to be provided) or may prepare a 1-2 minute monologue of their own choosing that is in the style of the show. Bring your best British accent!
Whether you've memorized your monologue or prefer to read it from the page, either is perfectly fine! ​​​
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You may be asked to read sides with other actors at auditions. Sides will be available for review online prior to the auditions.
Summary:
When your survival is at stake… will you be able to distinguish the monster from the man? Both terrifying and riotous, Kate Hamill’s imaginative, somewhat gender-bent “feminist revenge fantasy” is like no Dracula you’ve ever seen—exploring the nature of predators and reinventing the story as a smart, disquieting, darkly comic drama.​ Hamill’s signature style and postmodern wit upends this familiar tale of Victorian vampires—driving a stake through the heart of toxic masculinity.
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The vampires in this play do not have fangs; they are not pale and drawn; they are not abnormal physically in any way. The monsters look just like us.
Production Vision:​
For this production, I want us to sink our teeth into the jugular of gothic horror and drain it dry—with style, wit, and a whole lot of stage blood. Kate Hamill’s Dracula gives us a rich vein to tap: part satire, part slasher, part feminist fever dream, and fully committed to turning the classic vampire narrative on its pale, brooding head.
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Our world will be built on a sparse but haunting set—shadows stretching like fangs, doorways that breathe, and corners that whisper. It’s a world that leaves room for the imagination to run wild and the blood to run freer. The soundscape will blend eerie gothic rock with an atmospheric pulse, echoing both the sensuality and dread that vampire tales thrive on. And yes, there will be blood. We might need to give our ponchos and have a splash zone.
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Tonally, we’ll walk the razor’s edge between horror and humor, gore and glee. Like any good vampire story, we'll be aiming for a production that is a little sexy (and a little gay), deeply intimate, and unsettlingly human. We’ll play with the audience’s expectations—inviting them to laugh, then making them squirm, then making them question why they laughed in the first place. There’s delicious fun to be had in leaning into the absurdity of vampire tropes while using that very absurdity to say something real.
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This isn’t a tale of damsels in distress—it’s a blood-spattered reclamation of power. Mina isn’t the helpless ingénue of the original story or old adaptations. She’s layered, complex, and in this version, she has claws of her own. Van Helsing, reimagined as a woman, doesn’t just save the day—she lights the match and hands it to Mina. Together, they break the cycle of victimhood, even as they bear the scars of patriarchy’s bite. Renfield, too, isn’t just comic relief or a mad lackey—her suffering is a mirror to Mina’s, and her story bleeds with tragic resonance.
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Where our spring production of Steel Magnolias will explore the strength of women through quiet resilience, Dracula will bare its fangs to show that strength can also be loud, angry, vengeful, and gloriously messy. It’s a howl from the dark, a love letter to the monstrous feminine, and a blood-soaked reckoning with the things that haunt us—both supernatural and societal.
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At its heart, this production asks: What makes someone a monster? And if monsters look just like us, how do we know where the real danger lies?
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Get ready for a production where horror meets heart, passion is matched with bloody puncture wounds, and a bite that will linger for the cast, production team, crew, and audience long after the curtain falls.​​
Cast of Characters: 6W, 3M
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MINA HARKER - 20s-30s. Very smart. Caring. Loyal. Wants to do the right thing. Was raised to be a Lady, and is thus suppressing an inner fire that emerges throughout the progression of the play. Great emotional depth, good sense of humor. Must face her darkest fears—comes out stronger at the end of it. Secretly an adventurer, and fighter. Is called to be more than she once was.​
DRACULA - late 30s-late 50s. A physically imposing man. He is... extremely confident. Strong. Funny. Charming. Sexy. You’d like him, reader—no, really, you would. He makes people lose their heads. Manipulative. Commanding. Capable of being very, very frightening. Unpredictable. Physically strong. Incredible with language. Unimaginably powerful. Brilliant. Casually takes pleasure in cruelty. An equal-opportunity sexual sadist. A toxic predator; a wolf in the fold; a very old and clever parasite, capable of adapting and surviving. Fundamentally enjoys himself.​
JONATHAN HARKER - 20s-40s. A nice man. A truly decent man. A lawyer; a man of letters; a slight man; a slightly fussy man. If being unkind, one could say he’s delicate. He’s very, very British. Cares about people. Is maybe a little rule-bound. Loves his wife, Mina, deeply. Is bitten by Dracula, and then loses his mind—becoming an easily-confused, raving shambles. After recovering from sickness, he slowly gives in to Dracula’s darkness—becoming an abusive, toxic man. Once he’s under Dracula’s influence, we can’t always tell if he’s telling the truth. Can quickly switch from likable to extremely volatile.
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DOCTOR VAN HELSING - 40s+. American. A female vampire hunter. She takes no nonsense from anybody. She wears dusty beaten clothing and a big cowboy hat. She has a long nasty old scar all up and down the side of her face, as if someone has taken their hand and RIPPED down, long ago. It’s from an encounter she’d rather not talk about. She’s been through it. She’s a bit of a know-it-all; okay, she’s a lot of a know-it-all. She’s prickly. She’s strong. She’s brilliant. She’s no Lady. She’s on the hunt. She is badass - and 19th century men do not, as a rule, appreciate it.
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RENFIELD - any age. A madwoman. Worships Dracula. Believes that if she can earn his approval, she will be free. Not a bad soul, really, but capable of extreme brutality or duplicity in service of her religious zealotry. Almost a child at times, other times, frightfully mature. Her sanity comes and goes - but mostly goes.
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LUCY WESTENRA - 20s-30s. Bright, funny, vivacious, playful, and mischievous. Feels trapped and torn by expectations. About to be married, and deeply conscious of how that puts her under a 19th century man’s control. Reflexively flirtatious. Believes she must pretend to be less than she is. Yearns for freedom. Falls desperately ill after being bitten by Dracula... and then becomes a completely different being—an animalistic vampire demon—a naturally manipulative predator. Lucy’s vampire self is deeply unpredictable and frightening.
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DOCTOR GEORGE SEWARD - 30s-40s. The head physician of a lunatic asylum. A good man, but starts out the play as a product of his era—has some trouble listening to women. Believes only in the evidence of his own eyes. Tends to mansplain. Deeply in love with his fiancé Lucy Westenra, of whom he is overprotective. Has a very contentious relationship with Van Helsing. Doesn’t like to not feel in control. Chivalrous. Thinks of himself as a modern man; a man of science. Over the course of the play, he learns to accept female leadership and question his assumptions. A brave man. Likeable.​
MARILLA and DRUSILLA - 20s-30s. Dracula's vampire brides. More animal than human. Were lured into vampirehood by Dracula, who then proceeded to exploit them. Enjoy being predators, and find their pleasure in consuming others. Strong sex appeal, but they resent their objectification. Manipulative; vicious; probably sociopaths. Capable of moving very fast— blink, and oh God, she’s right behind you! Sister-wives. MARILLA doubles with MAID— an underpaid, resentful servant. DRUSILLA doubles with MILLER—a casually brutal asylum attendant, and MERCHANT—a merchant looking to make a sale.