[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Madmann’s Playground’s production of “Van Helsing’s Dracula” by dancer/aerialist/producer Sarah Mann, Corrin Evans and Katie Rediger, with original score by Hummie Mann, and running October 21, November 4, 11 and 18.
Can something be wild and totally controlled at the same time? Perhaps that is the essence of a vampire. And the allure. “Van Helsing’s Dracula,” a new production of an ancient story, plays exquisitely upon this savage theme. The Countess Van Helsing is our narrator, weaving artfully this poetic story of love and death and a triumph over both. Played out in the remarkable Vatican Banquet Hall, with its sweeping staircases, marble and stone decoration and state-of-the-art production, it’s the perfect venue for this incredible show.
With the large round tables carefully positioned around the room to ensure the best view of the floor for everyone, the guests sit together, stranger beside stranger. I loved this. It added to the drama and the intrigue and it felt like some kind of gorgeous dark wedding.
The evening was also arranged around the dinner itself, which began as we arrived and were seated and then carefully punctuated the story, becoming an additional cast member, served silently and skilfully by carefully curated staff.
Anne Apra Events created a bespoke cuisine, drawn from the Romanian Transylvanian region. Delicious, inspired food, a perfect balance, evocative, fragrant, and perfectly in keeping with the venue, the story and the performers. An echo of the Countess and her love’s own unfortunate invitation to dine with Dracula.
And then the show truly begins…I have to say that I have never experienced anything quite like this. And it is truly an experience, not just a beautifully written and extraordinarily performed story about vampires. It’s four dimensional theatre. A story of love that unfolds butterfly-like, captures our hearts and then takes a savage turn as these two lovers meet their fate and fight for it, only to change it once again. The incredibly fluid and mesmerizing aerial work on hoops and enormous corkscrews suspended from the ceiling and physically raised and lowered by the show’s creator Sarah Mann, all while clad in a gorgeous velvet couture gown, was intensely good and felt a little like a puppet master, and utterly magical. Then there are the amazing contortions, acrobatics and hand balancing performed by Dracula’s concubines, truly astonishing performances.
Dracula herself was as spellbinding a Dracula as I have ever seen, on screen or stage. Powerful, seductive, beguiling and totally believable. All the while throughout this impressive and unforgettable performance the only words ever spoken are from Van Helsing. It’s a truly remarkable thing, to tell a story and to exist within it simultaneously as if she was at its center and yet as much a victim of the tale as anyone else.
There was no campy breaking of the fourth wall…no cheap tricks or slight of hand. The poetic and gorgeously written narration is perfectly matched to the spinning and the acrobatics and the writhing, snaking concubines. It’s like a dream come to life, the kind you remember when you wake up and that stays with you forever. Every scene is performed with effortless abandon. Every exquisite sequence with just the right balance of pathos and drama and love. And the music….my goodness the music. Rhythmic, balletic, classical, whimsical, passionate, inspired music, created especially for this show by the Emmy Award-winning Hummie Mann. The musicians on a stage of their own, violin, harp, percussion and keys all working together to accompany the beautiful performances. It was absolutely flawless. In every way. And my fellow dinner guests sitting around me in rapturous silence were as thrilled as I was. Entranced even, bewitched by this phenomenal heartfelt circus cabaret.
“Van Helsing’s Dracula” is absolutely one of the most extraordinary and enjoyable evenings of theatre I have ever had. In Los Angeles or anywhere. This is the beginning of a movement that Sarah Mann and her Madmann’s Playground production company intend to create. A place for artists like these to perform timeless and inspiring stories with their words and their music and their bodies.
They have created a magical event, an unforgettable evening with performers as gifted with their expressions and their character work as they are with their mind-boggling contortions. They were all just incredible….bravo!!!!
“Van Helsing’s Dracula” has only three more performances this year and believe me the tickets are worth the price. The dinner is absolutely fantastic and you will not see a show more wonderful than this….or performers as skilled or a play more moving.
Tickets:
https://www.madmannsplayground.com/
Ticket price: $225
When:
October 21, November 4, 11 and 18
Where:
Vatican Banquet Hall
6913 Van Nuys Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91405