One of the highlights of 2022 for me was plunging back into the world of community theatre! Here in Victoria, we have a local society called LOST (Lawyers on Stage Theatre). It puts on a production (most years), with the proceeds going to different local charities. 
Several years back, Duncan and I went to see them do a version of Treasure Island (my friends Gillian Calder and Sara Ramshaw were both actors in it!). It was so much fun. And then COVID hit. The next year, they adapted and staged a 'radio play' version of Frankenstein. This meant the actors could stand apart from each other at different mikes, working off the script. Again, we went to watch Gillian and Sara. It was amazing to listen and watch. They also had a "foley crew" on stage.
Basically, the foley are the people who do the sound effects for radio or film. For example, they would use coconuts to make the sound of horses (images of Monty Python's Holy Grail!), and had a huge metal sheet hung from the roof, which, when shook would sound like rolling thunder.
This year, LOST announced that they were going to do another radio play, this time a version of Dracula! I was hooked. I mean, come on! Dracula?! As I young kid, I made my dad sit up with me to watch the Friday night horror movie every week. I am sure I watched every vampire movie that came along. And haven't I spent the last 30 or so years listening to jokes about blood-sucking lawyers?! I decided to audition (comforted in the knowledge that if I got a part, I would be able to work off the script, rather than having to memorize lines). And.... success! I got a part! (well... given the relatively small number of people who tried out, we all got parts lol!)
The gender numbers being what they were, I was cast in the role of a non-binary Van Helsing! Here is my photo/bio from the program (using a photo taken by Arta):
The version we worked with is the 1938 radio play version put together by Orson Welles, which is in public domain, thus no fee to use it (practicalities!) If you want to listen to the original, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLqrBzQBG8k.
The gender flipping in the role was not so worrisome to me. After all, there was also a non-binay Dracula (played by my wonderful colleague Sara Ramshaw). My worries were rather about my ability to create a convincing Dutch accent for the character. My first attempts were described by my friends as sounding like a Nazi character in a Bollywood film. ouch. Well.... always room for upwards improvement. I finally threw myself on the generous spirit of my friend Petra Van Kampen for some real coaching! After significant work on the accent (and threats by Gillian that she would no longer hang out with me if I didn't stop practicing my Dutch voice in our shared conversations about law), I finally ended up with something passable! Success!
It was a riot to work with such a fabulous group of people. Karrie Wolfe did inspired lighting design for it. Here are some photos of us on stage (program follows)!
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| Foley crew, Nurse Ratschid, Renfield, and Dr Seward |
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Dracula and Jonathan Harker (and the foley crew)
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| Jonathan Harker and the Vampire Brides |
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| Dr Seward and Lucy Westenra |
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| Dr Seward and Dr Van Helsing |
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| Lucy Westenra and Dr Van Helsing (just before Lucy gets 'staked'!) |
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| Near the end of the play, chasing after Dracula |
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| Ruari on the telegraph |
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| Phil the foley master |
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| Irene doing the train whistle |
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| Horses about to start galloping |
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| Dracula, Spectacula! |
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| The fabulous "Mellow Dees", mid commercial break with Andrew Pirie |
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| Alex "the Knife" Fyfe on the keyboards |
And finally, the program!
Like I said.... a perfect way to end off 2022! Feeling grateful to all the folks who came to see us strut our vocal chords across the stage, putting their money to two great charities!
Several years back, Duncan and I went to see them do a version of Treasure Island (my friends Gillian Calder and Sara Ramshaw were both actors in it!). It was so much fun. And then COVID hit. The next year, they adapted and staged a 'radio play' version of Frankenstein. This meant the actors could stand apart from each other at different mikes, working off the script. Again, we went to watch Gillian and Sara. It was amazing to listen and watch. They also had a "foley crew" on stage.
This year, LOST announced that they were going to do another radio play, this time a version of Dracula! I was hooked. I mean, come on! Dracula?! As I young kid, I made my dad sit up with me to watch the Friday night horror movie every week. I am sure I watched every vampire movie that came along. And haven't I spent the last 30 or so years listening to jokes about blood-sucking lawyers?! I decided to audition (comforted in the knowledge that if I got a part, I would be able to work off the script, rather than having to memorize lines). And.... success! I got a part! (well... given the relatively small number of people who tried out, we all got parts lol!) 
Our version of the play had some fabulous additions to the script, including an introductory interview with vampire-ologist Peter Golz (who has been teaching a course on vampires at UVic for the past 25 years), and hysterical musical ads celebrating local sponsors. So much fun! Here is one write up of the show: https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/entertainment/greater-victoria-law-community-stage-dracula-for-charity/
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