The Rainhat's the Thing

So, I took a little road trip this past weekend. Went out to Bloomsburg to see the BLOOMSBURG THEATRE ENSMBLE's production of "Dracula." More on that in a moment.

First, a word about the unusual thing that happened during the play. It involved a member of the audience.

To set the scene: The theatre was not particularly crowded on this Sunday afternoon. A friend and I were seated about ten rows back in the middle. A couple of rows in front of us were about three or four older women. I'd say they were in their 60s or 70s.

About midway through the first half of the play, one of these older women took out a plastic rain bonnet. And then, she put it on. Yes, she put on a rain bonnet while watching a play inside a perfectly dry theatre.

My friend and I just looked at each other and smiled. The only thing we could think of is that maybe the woman was cold and hoped the rain bonnet would keep the heat in? I mean, it was a little chilly in there.

In any case, the episode just served to make this particular theatre experience all the more memorable. Once again, the folks at BTE did a fine job. The cast featured several of the same actors who appeared in the company's production of "Hamlet" back in March (you can read my thoughts on that HERE). The actor who played Hamlet took on the role of Renfield; Claudius became Van Helsing; Laertes became Harker; and Polonius had the tile role of Dracula.

The production itself, I felt, was dramatic to the point of being over the top. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing. Many of the actors' movements were slow and deliberate, and atmospheric music continually played in the background. The sets were minimalistic and drew attention toward the actors rather than away from them. As a whole, it was all the drama you'd expect from Dracula.