The curtains slowly opened and there stood the cast of “Dracula, A feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really.” The crowd cheered and clapped as the lights dimmed and the actors got into place. On Mar. 2, the Milo Smith Tower Theater held the play that put a modern twist on the familiar old tale “Dracula.” The play explored themes of feminism, toxic masculinity and power dynamics. With the new twist on this legend’s story, audience members were eager to give their opinions on what they had watched. 

“It really centered around women being controlled and all of that, and trying to get out of that control from a bad person,” Jacqueline Arroyo, a third year majoring in the wine studies program said. “I would absolutely love to see something like this again in the future.”

The theater was quiet as the actors put on their performance, passion and dreams filling the theater room. Ella Downs, a sophomore majoring in English and minoring in theater, sat down to give their thoughts on the play and its themes. 

“Feeling like we’re powerless against men, even though we’re not, but feeling like we are and feeling like we’re scared of men, and feeling like they’re dangerous, really resonated, especially right now,” said Downs. They also shared if the play changed their outlook on feminism or power. “Not really. I kind of agree with everything.”

Going behind the scenes, Neo Klosterman, a student with the theater department, who played the character Dracula in the production, shared their inspiration for showcasing the play and described what they hoped the audience took away from the show. 

“The whole vibe or essence of this season was feminism and women centered stories, so that’s why we decided to pick this particular story to go with, and also because it has accents and that’s fun for actors to do,” said Klosterman. “I think right now in our world, there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of fear and a lot of unknown, and the real message of the story is about empowerment and how we can really have agency within the systems that are opposed to us…I’m hoping that is the message that people are left with after the show is done.” 

They also shined light into if we will be seeing more plays like this any time soon. “I’m not sure we’ll see any more monster stories, at least not yet. I’m not entirely sure what the next season will hold, but I know next quarter we are doing another woman focused story because that’s the whole point of our season … you probably won’t see Frankenstein and you definitely won’t see Dracula anytime soon, but you’ll definitely get the same kind of messages and empowerment from the shows that are upcoming for sure.”