Osbourn’s theatre department is kicking off the year with its production of Dracula. This play was chosen by Osbourn’s theatre teacher, Mr. Scofield. Mr. Scofield and his crew have done a lot of preparation for this play, which will be performed in Osbourn’s auditorium on November 7, 8, and 9.

Dracula is a book by Bram Stoker, and this play is inspired by this book. Osbourn is changing it a bit since they are a school, but it’s mostly based on that. It’s definitely a hard play to prepare for, especially for theatre teacher, Mr. Scofield, who joined Osbourn this year. He has been making sure the cast feels very comfortable and that the production gets done, even though it’s a pretty hard process.

“It’s a well-known story and I wanted to keep the Halloween theme going since the play is being done a week after Halloween,” said Mr. Scofield, the theatre teacher.

Rehearsal for the cast of Dracula is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The stage manager, assistant stage manager, director, and assistant director all sit in the front of the auditorium, with enough room for the actors. Rehearsal is from 3:20-6:30, depending on the day.

The tech crew meets up on different days rather than the cast, but the stage manager, assistant stage manager, and assistant director stay on cast days as well. Tech crew dates are usually towards the play dates. The tech crew and cast help each other with communicating how they could change it up a bit or just give ideas. 

The cast members work together to get the play into full shape, like puzzle pieces. Mr. Scofield has made sure to help the cast members however he can. There are many different puzzle pieces to this play. There has been a lot of preparation, help, and even one-on-one practice for lines.

“I love my role. I wanted to play a character with power that just does what they see fit with them, just following their nature, anybody with some sort of control or power is gonna use it with bad intentions at some point. It’s the character that enjoys it, the character that embraces and loves the chaos he causes, those are the characters I like, and I’m honored to be able to play one, especially because Dracula is more of an animal than a person, a monster, and not a man,” said senior Cash Short.

Getting ready for the play is also a lot of preparation. Everything from getting fitted to costume design, learning an accent, etc. It can be hard to get done whether you have a speaking challenge or you just can’t get the prepared lines down. The actors at Osbourn have shown that they can overcome those difficulties and continue on with the play instead of giving up.

“When I’m getting into character, I think about what emotions I would feel if I were that character. I sometimes watch clips of professional productions to see how those actors approached the character,” said freshman Jackson Doll.

“If you’re an actor, all you should have to focus on is your role, which is part of what the production team is responsible for — making sure that is all actors have to worry about. As an actor, arrive to rehearsal on time and be ready to work — while a show is supposed to be fun, it does require work. Be respectful and listen to the director. Try to have your lines memorized as soon as possible because the actual performances can’t be worked on until after. Be aware that it will take work outside of rehearsal to memorize lines, and also just do a lot of character study. I know people who make entire Pinterest boards and playlists for their characters. You don’t have to do all of that, but make sure you at least know who they are, what they want, and how they’re going to get it. Being an actor might sound like a lot of work, but honestly, audition! It’ll be the best decision you make! If you’re interested in crew, it’s really easy to get involved. It’s less of a time commitment than acting, and you usually don’t join the production until about three weeks before opening. You can work in lights, sound, costuming, set design, or run the crew. Depending on what you choose, it may be a lot of creative work, or you may simply need to learn your cues. If interested, talk to Mr. Scofield about signing up for the musical!” said Victoria Ingram.

Mr. Scofield is a new teacher at our school. He has been teaching for 11 years now and he has been a great influence at Osbourn for the theatre kids. He has been doing his best to get this play done by November and also teaching! He has been enjoying it very much here and plans to teach for more years at Osbourn to come. He strives for his students to succeed in everything they do and is helpful if needed for further assistance. He is laid-back and he doesn’t put much pressure on his students. He makes the assignments simple and explains them thoroughly to the students.

“Honestly, what I want to impart to the students is that theatre is a teamwork experience. That is why I do a lot of teamwork experience stuff. I also let tech do performance and performance do tech, so the tech theatre can get more used to the performance and performance can get more used to the tech stuff and they can respect each other more,” said Mr. Scofield.

“Everything you need is in the script. We use the script to see what we are saying and include different methods of finding the emotion in the characters’ cues. One of them I teach is to find an emotion from your life that you could use in place of where the character needs it,” said Mr. Scofield.

The main stage crew for the play, the stage manager and assistant stage manager, have a pretty complex job. It can be challenging to balance everything that goes on stage. Having to help the actors, control what’s on stage, and help the tech crew as well can be hard to balance. There are different things everyone does and remembering everything is hard, but the stage managers make the best of it and split the work. They might have experience from backstage or onstage in the past, which can help them describe better to the actors how they should be on stage.

“One of the things about being a stage manager — and this is both a privilege and a challenge — is that you are responsible for ensuring that everything gets done. This means you have to be proactive and on top of everything. People also rely on you to make decisions and problem-solve, meaning you need to work well under pressure,” said junior Victoria Ingram.

“As a stage manager, I am responsible for a lot of the logistics. I help create the rehearsal schedule, coordinate with actors to make sure they are at rehearsal, take notes, and make sure that what needs to get done gets done. Closer to the production, stage managers usually do a lot more with overseeing the run crew, which is responsible for set changes. They also work with everyone — both the actors and the crew — to make sure the show runs smoothly and on schedule,” said Victoria Ingram.

“Each stage manager has their own role to work on different parts of the play more efficiently. I help out with whatever assistance they need for each section that they work on as well as working with the cast to improve their acting, measure their sizes for costumes, help with script reading, sounds, or anything else Mr. Scofield needs me to work on,” said freshman Emilia Ingram.

“We do rehearsals on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and more recently also Saturdays. We split into groups and worked on specific scenes and their costumes and props,” said Emilia.

“When I was a kid, I performed in lots of plays. Now, I want to try working behind the scenes and slowly work up to being part of plays again,” said Emilia.

The cast was overall chosen by the director, Mr. Scofield, the assistant director, Giselle Toloza, and the stage manager, Victoria Ingram. It was mentioned that a lot of actors could have been good for many different roles for the cast, but the people who chose it think that it was a good choice. The tech crew was a bit more complicated since Mr. Scofield did not want to put everyone with their friends, but make sure they liked the environment.

“I’m thrilled with it. It was challenging since many actors would fit different roles, but I am content with the cast,” said Mr. Scofield.

“With any show, we had an audition and I had help from my stage manager and assistant director to determine what place I wanted for the parts. Then, people came in and read parts of the script from the person they were auditioning for,” said Mr. Scofield.

“Casting is always a difficult process. For Dracula, there were a lot of auditions, and everyone was great. It was mostly a question of whether or not we could envision each person in the role. We also looked at how each person was able to take direction, as well as their willingness to try new things. I’m grateful to have been involved in this process!” said Victoria Ingram.

The Cast:

Mina Harker – Ash Stoner

Jonathan Harker – Liam Sutphin

Count Vlad Dracula – Cash Short

Lucy Westenra – Susannah Bailey

Abra Van Helsing – Savannah Fitzgerald

R.M. Renfield – Marshall Bassam

Bride 1 – Brynna Thaxter

Bride 2 – Natalie Cook

Bride 3 – Tiffany Baitinger

Captain of the Demeter – Jackson Doll

Attendant – Kelsey Mejia Pineda

Butler – Alberto Hurtado

Slovakian Warrior – Zander Andres

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