DRACULA
Good morning, Mr. Harker.
HARKER
Oh! Good Heavens, but you gave me a start! I didn’t hear you come in.
DRACULA
My apologies. I did not mean to startle you.
HARKER
That’s,… all right.
DRACULA
I trust you had a good night’s rest.
HARKER
No, in fact I did not.
DRACULA
So sorry to hear. What troubled you so?
HARKER
I was kept awake by… nightmares.
DRACULA
Nightmares? More than one?
HARKER
Yes. Three, to be exact.
DRACULA
The stuff of a troubled mind. Well, I am glad you found your way in here. I am sure here is much that will interest you. (Referring to his books). These friends have been good to me and for some years past, ever since I had the idea of traveling to London, have given me many, many hours of pleasure.
HARKER
Count, if I may ask. You never said why you wished to move to London. It seems a strangely curious plan to make for a man in your position here in Transylvania. Why this relocation?
DRACULA
It is a fair question. You see, I am in business with a Doctor of Botany. He is experimenting with the growth of English flora beneath foreign soil. I wanted to see the world one last time before I am too old. So, I agreed to facilitate the shipment of seven crates of Transylvanian soil to be dispersed. These seven boxes will be delivered to Whitby, Carfax, and Exeter, where the botanist will commence his work.
HARKER
What an odd experiment.
DRACULA
The man is a scientist. This botantical expert seeks to discover how English-grown foliage might survive and react to soil from Romania. His plant subjects are largely indigenous to England such as; Meadowsweet, Flowering Heather, and Rosa Arvensis. I shall ‘over-see’ the shipping myself. And once I arrive, I may stay for an indefinite period of time,… if all goes well.
HARKER
If all goes well?
DRACULA
Yes, depending upon whether or not the crated earth from Transylvania can,… ‘preserve’ that which is buried deep within England’s ground.
HARKER
I understand.
DRACULA
Please, feel free to help yourself to my library.
HARKER
I don’t feel very much like reading at present.
DRACULA
Tomorrow my friend, we must part.
HARKER
We? Are we to travel together?
DRACULA
No, Mr. Harker. You will return to England straightaway. I must stay behind to supervise the loading of the seven crates of soil.
HARKER
And my letters home?
DRACULA
They have been dispatched.
HARKER
I have a few more.
DRACULA
Of course. Would you have them sent by standard service? Or express?
(Harker pulls a stack of envelopes out of an inner pocket and hands them to Dracula. Harker momentarily turns his back to the Count.)
HARKER
Post-haste, please. Expediency is critical.
(The Count steps deliberately to a lit candelabra. He takes Harker’s letters, places them in the flame and they go up all at once in a small ball of fire. This effect is to be done with ‘flash paper’. The timing is such that Harker turns back to the Count the moment the letters have been extinguished. The entire movement should be done matter-of-factly. Dracula should never show his ‘cards’ as someone nervous about doing this action in secret. Harker should never detect anything unusual has happened. For the effect to work best, it must be choreographed to be played swiftly and smoothly. Dracula may place a hand inside an inner pocket as if to pretend to stash Harker’s letters there.)
DRACULA
They’ll be sent off in a flash.
HARKER
Thank you, Count.
DRACULA
Now, tomorrow I will not be here. But all will be ready for your journey. In the morning come the Szgany and Slovaks to load the crates onto wagons for a cargo ship. When they have gone, my carriage will come for you. Then bear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to Bistriz. But I am in hopes that I will see more of you at my new Castle Dracula in Whitby.
(Dracula turns to leave.)
HARKER
Why may I not leave now?
(Dracula stops in his tracks. He turns back to face Harker.)
DRACULA
Because, dear sir, it is not yet light and my coachman and horses are away on a mission.
HARKER
But I would walk with pleasure.
DRACULA
Why is that?
HARKER
I want to get away at once.
DRACULA
And your baggage?
HARKER
I do not care about it.
DRACULA
But your personal effects.
HARKER
I can send for them some other time.
DRACULA
Very well. You English have a saying which is close to my heart. For its spirit is that which rules our Boyars; “Welcome the coming, and speed the parting guest”. Come with me, my dear young friend. Not a minute more shall you wait in my house against your will. Though, sad I am at your going. And that you so suddenly desire it. Come!
(A flash of lightning.)
HARKER
Where are we going?
DRACULA
To the entrance door, of course.
(Dracula opens the door. Crashing thunder followed by the howling of wolves can be heard.)
HARKER
Oh, my.
DRACULA
Hark! The howling of many wolves. They are hungry and must be fed. Well, on your way, Mr. Harker.
HARKER
The wolves, they sound close at hand.
DRACULA
If you are fast, you’ve nothing to fear.
HARKER
Close the door! I will wait until afternoon!
DRACULA
But you were so insistent on leaving.
HARKER
I was, yes.
DRACULA
Very well. You are right. It is best you stay. It is not,… safe in the “forest beyond”. I will lock us up securely within the castle once again. (He closes the door and begins throwing the locks back into place.) We want nothing to get in,…
(He inconspicuously leers at Harker for a moment. Harker is oblivious to this.)
…and nothing to get out.
(Harker does not hear his comment. Dracula returns his attention to the door.)
I will leave you to your liberties. It is near light. I must retire to my chamber.
(Lighting and thunder. Dracula exits. Music. Once Harker knows that the strange old man is out of sight, he goes about looking for a way to escape. He takes a spear from the wall, attempts to pry the door open but to no avail. The women in white appear in smoke and catch him attempting to escape. They pursue him as he does his beast to stave them off. He then runs up the staircase to an area at the upper-most floor. He sees a small gothic-arched stained glass window. He is able to pry it open. He squeezes out, steps outside upon a ledge, just as the women reach him. Just as his foot is nearly out of the window, it is grabbed by one of the vampires. But he slips through. The three women stay at the window, reaching for him, hissing, salivating. Harker leaps across to a nearby turret of the castle. He uses stones, cracks, and crevices in the cylindr
ical column as hand and foot holds and is able to climb his way down. As the wolves’ howling increases in volume, Harker flees into the wood. He has escaped the Castle Dracula.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 6
“Dance Card”
[Whitby, England]
(Warm, sunny lighting and pleasant music convey the following day in an altogether different place. We have returned to the garden cemetery. Enter Lucy and Mina. They are chasing each other and laughing their way into the scene. The garden is suddenly alive with youth and joy. Lucy goes to pick a flower or two. Mina, with journal and quill, sits upon the stone bench. She writes a letter. Enter Mrs. Westenra with a calling card in her hand. Dr. John Seward follows her, closely behind.)
MRS. WESTENRA
Lucy, Dear? (Reading the card.) A Doctor John Seward to see you.
LUCY
Thank you, Mother. Welcome him here.
(Mrs. Westenra gestures that Seward may follow her into the garden, then she hands the calling card to Lucy. Mrs. Westenra exits. Lucy speaks to Seward.)
LUCY
Won’t you come to the garden?
SEWARD
Good afternoon, Miss Lucy. Do you remember me?
LUCY
Why, of course! You’re the “lunatic-asylum-man”!
SEWARD
Yes, I suppose that’s one way to put it.
LUCY
So, my mother said you wanted to see me. Please, no beating around the bush. Spill out your thoughts as a river doth its crystalline waters. But, if you please, do so on a topic of my choosing. Which is,… Define ‘love’.
(Nervously, Dr. Seward fidgets with a lancet during the following.)
SEWARD
Well,… very well, Miss Lucy. Science dictates that in order to populate the firmament, beings of opposite sex must couple as a means to propagate… First, however, there are the social mores of modern-day London. These are typified by the laws of attraction, a period of courtship, followed by a matrimonial commencement. Only then, can the two species engage in consummation, a nature-driven response resulting in reproduction.
LUCY
Why that’s beautiful, Dr. Seward. So,… elegant. And so very… clinical.
MRS. WESTENRA
Oh, Lucy Dear!
LUCY
Yes, Mother?!
MRS. WESTENRA
Sir Arthur Holmwood. Son of the Lord and Lady Godalming to see you.
LUCY
Thank you, Mother. Welcome him here. If you’ll excuse me, Doctor.
(Lucy goes to a piazza to meet with Holmwood. Mrs. Westenra gestures that Holmwood may follow her to the piazza, then she hands the calling card to Lucy. Mrs. Westenra exits. Lucy speaks to Holmwood.)
LUCY
Why you’re looking dapper today, Arthur.
HOLMWOOD
Miss Lucy, you are beautiful as always.
LUCY
Won’t you join me on the piazza?
HOLMWOOD
My pleasure.
LUCY
I understand your father, the Lord Godalming, has taken ill. I trust it’s not serious.
HOLMWOOD
Unfortunately, it appears critical.
LUCY
Oh dear. I’m so sorry, Arthur.
HOLMWOOD
Thank you for your concern, Lucille. Father spends more time in bed than out. But Mother is with him. She waits on him hand and foot. It doesn’t look good.
LUCY
I will include him in my nightly prayers. Now, I have a question. Would you be so kind as to respond?
HOLMWOOD
I will do my best.
LUCY
What would you say, is a proper definition of ‘Love’?
HOLMWOOD
Oh dear. Definition of … ‘Love’, is it? Well, I suppose… When two people,… a man and a woman… They,… actually enjoy time together? And then ultimately they may steal away to a private location,… Where they may actually, in private,…
(He looks about him to insure no one is within ear shot.)
…hold hands.
LUCY
Oh my. Isn’t that a naughty notion.
MRS. WESTENRA
Oh, Lucy Dear!
LUCY
I’ll return.
(As she leaves Holmwood at the piazza…)
LUCY
Yes, Mother?
MRS. WESTENRA
A Mr. Quincy Morris to see you.
LUCY
Welcome him here.
MRS. WESTENRA
(A forced smile.)
They’re beginning to pile up, Love.
(Lucy follows her mother to yet another area of the garden to meet with Mr. Morris. Mrs. Westenra is seen gesturing an introduction of Morris to Lucy. She then turns to have a seat alone at another area of the garden where she sits, opens a parasol, and daubs her forehead with a lacy hanky. Lucy and Quincy stay at the stone bench. Quincy, as a gentleman would, gestures for Lucy to sit on the bench while he hikes a booted foot on the bench and lights a cigar.)
MORRIS
Miss Lucy, I know I ain’t good enough to regulate the fixins of your little shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find one who is, he’d be one lucky son of a buck and start ta grinnin’ like a mule eatin’ briars.
LUCY
Thank you, Mr. Morris. That was probably a very lovely thing to say… Oh, gentlemen? If you will,… What can I do for you all?
ALL
MISS LUCY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?
(Lucy grabs her mother by the arm and brings her downstage, sotto voce.)
LUCY
Mother, I feel so sorry for the other two fellows.
MRS. WESTENRA
Which two?
LUCY
I haven’t decided yet.
MRS. WESTENRA
Well, you’d better hurry, Dear. They’re all three aging as we speak.
LUCY
(Aside.)
What a conundrum. I feel so miserable… And that makes me so very happy!
(Delightful dance music of appropriate period and place begins. It is light and airy. Lucy begins dancing with Seward, then Morris cuts in as Mina goes to Seward and they dance, then Holmwood cuts in on Lucy and Morris, then begins to dance with Lucy as Morris takes Mrs. Westenra by the hand and dances with her. Three couples now dance together in the cemetery garden. It is a beautifully choreographed trio of period dance, polite, proper, and well-executed. Music comes to an end and so does the dance. All six applaud the fun they have just had. Lucy takes Holmwood by the hand and brings him center.)
LUCY
Sir Arthur Holmwood, I accept!
They kiss. All others are good sports and applaud, then escort their respective dance partners out of the scene as more serious and ominous music eases in to announce the coming Demeter.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 7
“Voyage of the Demeter”
[The Baltic Sea]
(In a blast of exciting music depicting sea voyage, actors enter the center stage area and one by one, as Russian seamen, begin to “assemble” the ship, DEMETER. It is a Russian vessel, a schooner from Varna. This assembly is done at a fast clip and while the props and set pieces are being placed, the scene should read as deckhands preparing for departure. The entire process should be carefully choreographed in such a way that it appears the crewmen are assisting one another in loading the boat with cargo. Essential items are; a mounted ship’s steering wheel down front and center, an old wooden barrel or two, several steamer and cam-back trunks, and the seven crates (presumably holding Transylvanian soil), one crate is a coffin. Several long masts with sails attached are hoisted. Dracula bursts from the upright coffin-shaped crate, kil
ls the seamen one by one, and tosses many into the ocean. Scene ends as lights fade and music subsides.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 8
“Escape”
[Whitby Asylum]
(Music. Whitby Asylum. Renfield’s cell. Present are Renfield, Seward, Simmons, Hennessey, and Snelling. Renfield calls out of his barred window facing the forest.)
RENFIELD
Your new home! Master! Ye have arrived!
SIMMONS
Now, just settle down there, Mr. Renfield.
HENNESSEY
Some strange and sudden change in him, Sir.
SNELLING
About eight of the clock, he began to sniff around as a dog might when setting.
RENFIELD
(To Seward)
I don’t want to talk to you. You don’t count anymore. The master is at hand.
SEWARD
It is some sort of religious mania that has seized him.
RENFIELD
Infinitesimal distinctions between man and man are too paltry an exercise for an omnipotent being. How you madmen give yourselves away! Oh, if you only knew what is in store from the Master of all!
SIMMONS
He’s clearly deranged.
RENFIELD
Oh, yes. The lunatic gives himself away, does he not? A shifty look within the eyes when a madman hath seized an idea? A movement of the head and back, which asylum attendant have come to know so well.
HENNESSEY
What have you done with your vermin? Where’re they hiding?
RENFIELD
Bother them all. I don’t care a pin about them. The wedding maidens rejoice the eyes that await the coming of the bride; yet when the bride draweth nigh, then the maidens shine not to the eyes that are filled.
SEWARD
What is this nonsensical riddle? Explain.
RENFIELD
No vermin here. You may look for yourself.
SNELLING
What? You don’t mean to tell us you’ve given up spiders?!
RENFIELD
Perhaps. But I’ve not given up petty thievery.
Dracula of Transylvania: The Epic Play in Three Acts Page 5