Striking a vampire in the heart with a wooden stake is old school. In the 21st Century, stalking a vampire using technology and multi-media is the way to go.
Skype, the popular software application that allows users to make voice and video chat calls over the Internet, is a powerful threat to a modern vampire named Vlad in “We *Heart* U, Nosferatu!” a new one-act stage play written by Los Angeles screenwriter Jack Paglen, a former Sonoma County resident.
Paglen combines the current popularity of vampire books, films and television with technological tools including social networking and video communications for this new vampire spoof that brings multi-media and live Skype feeds to live theater in Petaluma, CA.
Cinnabar Theater and Ensemble Theater Collective present a joint production pairing Paglen’s new play with Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium” for a supernatural-double-bill-thriller entitled “Dracula/The Medium.” Performances are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Nov. 5 to Nov. 21, 2010.
In Paglen’s comedy the vampire becomes the pursued as two young women obsessed with the current vampire craze stalk him from a small town in Idaho using the Internet and communication applications.
“There are really four characters in this play – Vlad, Mary Ann, Dottie and the media,” said Ensemble Theater Collective director Elizabeth Craven of Sonoma County.
“Our vampire, Vlad, is played by actor Keith Baker. He is the only live actor that appears on stage. Actresses Allison Marcom Baker as Mary Ann and Mary Gannon Graham as Dottie appear exclusively on a live Skype feed from another location. The Skyping happens in real time during performances. Audiences will
see Sykpe scenes projected on Vlad’s home theater system.”
Sykpe scenes and other multi-media will be displayed for audiences on a large, on-stage screen.
“Throughout the play Vlad uses a variety of multi-media technology in his home theater. Audiences will share in his experience as he searches the Internet and Google Earth, shops online, watches television, films and some interesting DVDs,” said Craven.
“Jack Paglen’s sense of humor and the way he has included modern technology brings a fun, modern twist to the body of vampire fiction from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ‘Dracula’ to Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series,” said Craven.
IF YOU GO:
“Dracula & The Medium”
A supernatural-double-bill-thriller featuring –“We *Heart* U, Nosferatu! (Dracula)”
World Premiere
By Jack Paglen
Directed by Elizabeth Cravenand
“The Medium”
Words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti
Directed by Elly LichensteinEmerging screenwriter Jack Paglen spoofs the current vampire craze with a new one-act play – “We *Heart* U, Nosferatu! (Dracula)” – where the pursuer becomes the pursued. It’s paired with Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium,” an opera inspired by a murderous séance experience for a supernatural-double-bill-thriller.
WHEN: Nov. 5 to Nov. 21, 2010
TICKETS: $20 to $35
LOCATION: Cinnabar Theater,
3333 Petaluma, Blvd. North, Petaluma, CAPHONE: 707-763-8920
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday or purchase at the door.
Reservations highly recommended.