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Dracula of Transylvania: The Epic Play in Three Acts

Page 8

by Christofer Cook


  RENFIELD

  Squiggle and squirm, like carnivorous worm,

  Breeding disease as good as you please?

  Or

  Like black widows in pockets,

  Crawl out of eye sockets?

  SEWARD

  Well, it’s been quite the encounter, Mr. Renfield. We’ll see you tomorrow.

  SIMMONS

  Not if I can help it.

  SEWARD

  Now, now, Simmons. Let’s be charitable. We’ll replace your canary, forthwith.

  SIMMONS

  Come along, ye foul eater of fowl.

  (Simmons leads Renfield by the chain attached to his collar. Foreboding music eases in and Renfield slowly turns his head to look in the direction of the Westenra cottage. He halts suddenly.)

  RENFIELD

  I shall be patient, Master! It is coming! It is coming!

  Simmons begins to push him back into the cell. Lights fade on the asylum. Music play on into the next scene.)

  [END OF SCENE]

  Scene 3

  “When the Wolfsbane Blooms”

  [Lucy’s Boudoir]

  (A growing storm with clouds gathering outside. The distant rumbling of thunder followed by lightning. The thunder grows louder and the flashes of lightning outside the gothic windows come more quickly and more often. The light in the bedroom chamber is blue. The blue is broken up at points by the amber glow of flame flickering from candles and lanterns about. Throughout the following scene, thunder crashes more loudly and loudly and lightning flashes more brightly at each explosion of thunder. Lucy sleeps. Her mother enters and is hit by the powerful stench of garlic. This time, she cannot tolerate the smell.)

  MRS. WESTENRA

  It wreaks in this room! It smells of an Italian brothel.

  (Mrs. Westenra removes the necklace from Lucy’s neck and then begins ripping down the garlic cloves roped about the windows and doors.)

  LUCY

  Mother, what are you doing? The professor strictly forbids us all from disturbing the garlic.

  MRS. WESTENRA

  You’re having trouble breathing as it is, Love. You certainly don’t need this wrapped about your neck. And all this hanging about? Out with it! Let me crack some windows. It’s awfully close in here. I was uneasy about you, darling, and came in to see that you were all right.

  LUCY

  Close the windows, Mother. Remember your condition. You’ll catch your death of cold, Come, take a comforter.

  (Mrs. Westenra suddenly catches sight of something outside the French door windows. Forboding music eases in.)

  MRS. WESTENRA

  Oh Dear Lord.

  LUCY

  What is it?

  (Lucy sits upright in bed.)

  MRS. WESTENRA

  Out the window on the front lawn. It’s a grey wolf! The Gazette spoke of an escaped wolf from the zoo. Do you suppose…?

  LUCY

  Even if it is the same one, we’re all right.

  (Mrs. Westenra begins to talk strangely as she has gone into some sort of trance.)

  MRS. WESTENRA

  No, we’re not all right, Lucy.

  LUCY

  Why do you say that?

  MRS. WESTENRA

  He’s standing upright. On his hind legs. Like a man. It’s a werewolf and he has seen me.

  LUCY

  Mother, please. No more jesting. You’re scaring me?

  MRS. WESTENRA

  It’s him. The one who hungers.

  LUCY

  Mother, what is happening to you?

  MRS. WESTENRA

  He’s speaking to me. Through his eyes.

  LUCY

  We’re at least twenty meters above lawn. We’re safe here, Mother.

  MRS. WESTENRA

  There is no safety, my love. He’s floating at the window now.

  LUCY

  I see nothing, Mother.

  MRS. WESTENRA

  He’s right in front of me, Lucille! He’s coming for me! I’m here, Great One!

  (Music rises to crescendo. Panes of glass from the French window doors smash inward. Mrs. Westenra, as if by the volition of the supernatural, bolts to the French window doors, opens them and leaps out. Lightning, thunder, and music intensifies with the sounds of a wolf attacking and Mrs. Westenra screaming. Fountains of crimson blood begin spewing forth from the French door windows. The grue hits Lucy on face and body until she looks as though she has just bathed in blood. There is a lighting and music change. Lucy lies back onto her propped pillows. All this is done to convey the passage of time. Enter Seward, Van Helsing and a couple of nurses. The doctors stand at the foot of Lucy’s bed as though listening to the last of Lucy’s account. Seward’s nurses clean Lucy’s face.)

  LUCY

  …I tried to pacify her, to no avail. I could hear her poor dear heart still beating terribly. After a while there was the low howl again and shortly after there was a crash at the window, and a lot of broken glass was hurled to the floor; scattered shards crystallized the hardwood. The window blinds blew back with the wind that rushed in, and outside the broken panes there was the head of a great, gaunt, grey werewolf! Suddenly, mother lept out of the window and into the lycan’s mouth. She cried out in a fright as the sounds of gnashing teeth devoured her.

  (Lucy slowly drops her head to her pillow. She appears to have fainted. Van Helsing addresses the nursing staff.)

  VAN HELSING

  Cool her down with compress. Let her rest but keep her conscious. Close and lock all the windows again. And for God’s sake put back the garlic. Over the doors, and the necklace about her throat. Do it! Now!

  (Lights fade from Lucy’s bed. The nurses do all that is instructed of them to restore what Mrs. Westenra had removed. Van Helsing and Seward turn downstage.)

  VAN HELSING

  That foolish woman! Right before she died, Mrs. Westenra removed all the garlic and cracked open the windows. It was her. I’m certain of it!

  SEWARD

  I know, and you know, that Mrs. Westenra had disease of the heart. And we can certify that she died of it. Poor Lucy’s account is the result of dementia brought on by fever.

  VAN HELSING

  Is it?

  SEWARD

  You don’t mean to tell me you believe that story about a werewolf.

  VAN HELSING

  If this was nothing more than heart failure, then why was she found on the lawn outside the French door windows?

  SEWARD

  You do think this was some sort of werewolf!

  VAN HELSING

  I don’t know. We’ll have to examine the body. Come along.

  SEWARD

  We can’t do that now. Scotland Yard has just arrived. You saw them as we got to the gate. It’s a full inquest. We cannot investigate until the police turn her over to the undertaker.

  VAN HELSING

  Well then, we wait. Come, let us observe.

  (Exeunt)

  [END OF SCENE]

  Scene 4

  “A Seeming Deathbed”

  [Lucy’s Boudoir]

  (Music in. Lighting rises on Lucy’s bedchamber. Holmwood sleeps on a couch nearby. Morris is dozing off in a seated position on a chair. Smollet Snelling, one of the nurses, is placing cool compresses on Lucy’s forehead. Van Helsing enters followed by Seward. They go straight to the bed to examine their patient.)

  VAN HELSING

  Dr. Seward, look at her mouth.

  SEWARD

  It must be some trick of the light. Her canine teeth look longer and sharper than all the rest.

  (Suddenly, ther is a loud and strange sound just outside the French door windows.)

  VAN HELSING

  Vat on earth is that
?

  SEWARD

  It sounds like some slapping or buffeting at the window… I’ll investigate.

  (He goes toward the window.)

  SNELLING

  Don’t go over there, Doctor.

  SEWARD

  Never you worry, Smollet. Good Lord!

  VAN HELSING

  What is it? What do you see, Jack?

  SEWARD

  In the full moonlight I can see… Oh dear! It is a great bat! Wheeling round and round. Doubtless attracted by the light from within Lucy’s bedchamber. It’s striking the window panes with its wings as though trying to force its way in!

  VAN HELSING

  Away from the window, Dr. Seward! Go over there and wake that poor man. (Gentle music in, underscoring the rest of the scene.) Let him come and see the last. He trusts us and we have promised him.

  (Seward wakes Holmwood. Morris stirs as well. The three men join Van Helsing at Lucy’s side.

  VAN HELSING

  Come, come good Arthur. Take her hand in yours. But do not kiss her.

  (Holmwood does so.)

  HOLMWOOD

  She is cold. Cold as a stone.

  SEWARD

  (Checking vitals)

  It’s all over now. It is done. She is dead.

  (Quincy and Holmwood and any nurses nearby all kneel down at Lucy’s side and pray for her soul. Van Helsing pulls Seward away for a moment.)

  SEWARD

  Poor girl. There is peace for her at last. It is the end.

  VAN HELSING

  Not so, alas, not so. Would it were true. Jack, my friend, this is only the beginning.

  (They join the others at Lucy’s bedside. If necessary in the production, she can be lifted by all and carried off carefully and somberly off the stage. Everyone would then exit with her.)

  [END OF SCENE]

  Scene 5

  “Post Mortem”

  [The Undertaker’s Parlor]

  (In funereal music, Mr. Swales, Smollet Snelling, Patti Hennesey, Waites Simmons, and Mildred Creaply, the undertaker’s wife, prepare a funeral parlor for viewing. Two open caskets are wheeled in; One holds Lucy’s body, the other Mrs. Westenra. Tributes, wreathes, and flowers are placed in various areas. Last minute powdering is applied to the corpses’ faces by Mrs. Creaply. All five staff members simultaneously tend to the ghastly preparations as the audience observes the subtle scene change. This should all be quick, yet done with reverence and care. Dr. Seward enters. Swales, Snelling, Hennesey, and Simmons exit. Mrs. Creaply approaches Seward.)

  CREAPLY

  She makes quite a beautiful corpse, don’t she, guvna? Just lovely. I mean, the girl. Not her mum. It’s been my privilege to attend upon young Lucille. Its not too much to say that she will set quite an example of superior craftsmanship by our establishment.

  SEWARD

  Indeed, Mrs. Creaply. She looks almost human. You are a credit to your profession.

  CREAPLY

  Thank you, Sir.

  SEWARD

  And the obsequies?

  CREAPLY

  The funeral is arranged for tomorrow, Doctor. So that the poor girl and her mum might be buried together… That is to say, at the same time. Not in the same receptacle, of course.

  SEWARD

  Yes, that I was able to intuit. Now, as for the bodies, how do they stand?

  CREAPLY

  Oh there’s no standin’, Sir. They’ve both gone quite beyond that. Them bein’ deceased and all. However, I do know a photographer who props up his clients for tin-types, post-rigor, for family mementos. Did you want us to insert rods and such into their…

  SEWARD

  I MEANT,… (more calmly)… When I asked how the bodies “stood”, I was referring to your preparations for burial!

  CREAPLY

  Oh dear me! So sorry, guvna’. I’m all finished. All but the posies for their sachets.

  SEWARD

  Well, see to it, straightaway.

  CREAPLY

  Very good, Sir.

  (Mrs. Creaply begins to exit just as Van Helsing enters.)

  VAN HELSING

  No need, Mrs. Creaply. I’ve taken the liberty of providing the posies myself. Doctor Seward’s staff will continue with the preparations presently. Go somewhere, lie down, and rest yourself.

  CREAPLY

  Very well, Professor.

  (She exits. As soon as Van Helsing is sure he and the doctor are alone, he speaks to Seward in a conspiratorial voice.)

  VAN HELSING

  Tomorrow before night, I want you to bring me a post-mortem bone saw.

  SEWARD

  Must we perform an autopsy?

  VAN HELSING

  Yes, and no. I want to operate, but not as you think. Let me tell you now, bug not a word to another. I need to perform a type of procedure upon Miss Lucy’s body.

  SEWARD

  But why? The girl is dead. Why practice upon her without purpose? To do so is monstrous!

  VAN HELSING

  Friend Jack. There are things that you know not, but that you shall know and bless me for knowing, though they be most unpleasant. There are strange and terrible days before us. Let us not be two, but one, so that we can work to a good end. Will you not have faith in me?

  (Van Helsing extends his hand. Seward takes it and returns a firm grip of solidarity.)

  SEWARD

  I give you my promise. Now, what do you propose?

  VAN HELSING

  A private matter that must be kept secret from the would-be bride-groom. If, however, Arthur should become wise, tell him that I will execute a relatively simple procedure. Assure him it is both respectful to her corpse and quite non-invasive.

  SEWARD

  And that is?

  VAN HELSING

  I want to chop off her head and cut out her heart.

  (Music. In shock, Seward exits disgustedly. Van Helsing claps his hands together twice to summon Swales, Snelling, Hennessey, and Simmons. The three enter with hat boxes filled with garlic strands, wreathes, and single cloves. Van Helsing digs into his waistcoat and pulls out several pound notes. He pays each one of them off. He exits as the three completely and quickly festoon the parlor with garlic. They exit briskly.)

  [END OF SCENE]

  Scene 6

  “It Is The Man Himself!”

  [Garden Cemetery, Whitby]

  (Pleasant music as Jonathan and Mina enter to stroll through the garden cemetery)

  MINA

  The day is so beautiful, yet so clouded with mourning. I simply can’t stop thinking of those I love, now lost.

  HARKER

  I had hoped our walks throughout Whitby would do us good. You know, get our minds off things. If only for a while.

  MINA

  It’s a sweet thought, my love.

  HARKER

  Sweet thoughts, yet little difference they make, I suppose.

  (They sit together on a bench.)

  MINA

  Its only, there’s hardly a curative for the grief-stricken. What with the deaths of so many within our circle. Only time will heal wounds of the heart.

  HARKER

  Mina, remember when we were young? I mean younger. Our parents must’ve thought we were absolutely mad. For hardly a fortnight passed that we didn’t sneak into the gardens of the others’ homes and climb the trellises as in “Romeo and Juliet”.

  MINA

  Yes! I do remember! How joyous, our youth! Oh, Jonathan. Hold me by the arm. The way you used to in days of old, before I went to school.

  (He does so.)

  HARKER

  How’s this, Love?

  MINA

  Much better.

  HARKER

 
See if this is much better.

  (Jonathan steals a quick kiss from Mina’s lips.)

  MINA

  OH! Jonathan! How cheeky! And I, a pedant of etiquette, manners, and decorum for young ladies. I shall be banished from her majesty’s kingdom of polite and civilized society. For some don’t even hold hands in public ’till after their third child.

  HARKER

  I don’t think anyone saw us.

  MINA

  You know something? I don’t care if they did. You are my husband, I am your wife.

  (Mina now initiates a kiss. Jump scare chord. Dracula appears in one area of the garden. Jonathan sees him and he bolts upright off the bench. Dracula vanishes.)

  HARKER

  My God!

  MINA

  What is it, Jonathan?

  HARKER

  Look! Over there! Did you not see it?!

  MINA

  What?

  (Dracula appears again, this time at a completely different area far way from the first. This appearing and reappearing at different locations can be done through the use of a double. The impression of course should be that the vampire is quickly transporting himself supernaturally from one place to the other.)

  HARKER

  There he is again!

  (Dracula vanishes.)

  HARKER

  Look now! He’s gone!

  MINA

  What was it that disturbed you so?

  HARKER

  I gazed at a tall, thin man with a beaked nose and black moustache, pointed beard. His face was not a good face. It was hard, cruel, and sensual. His large white teeth looked all the whiter because his lips were blood-red. His teeth were pointed like that of a wolf. Can’t you understand who it was?

  (Dracula appears somewhere else.)

  HARKER

  Do you see who it is?

  (Dracula vanishes.)

  MINA

  No, Dear, I don’t see anyone. Who is it?

  HARKER

  It is the man himself!

  MINA

  Who? Tell me, who?!

  (Dracula appears again.)

  HARKER

  He appears! He vanishes!

  (Again he’s gone.)

  MINA

  Where?

  HARKER

  I just saw him over there. And then, then he reappeared there. And then here!

 

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