‘Dracula’ leaves audience spellbound

LAHORE : As the cool breeze permeated the April weather, the Lahorites were caught by surprise with a breath of fresh air on the cultural scene in a remarkable delineation of characters as the plot unfolded in horror-cum-musical play – Dracula.

Played before to the packed-to-a-capacity audience on a beautifully-designed setting of grand cultural venue of Alhamra Art Council’s Hall-I, the play was adapted from a novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker and excerpts on the subject here and there. The entire production team, cast and crew of the Happy Owl Productions put their act together to produce a flawless to near-perfect theatre performance with animations and special effects in the background enhancing the appeal of the play.

The plot revolves around the protagonist, Dracula, played by Daniyal Ayat, and wife and ladylove, Mina, played by Jahan Ara Chughtai, in a turn of events divided between classical era’s setting in Transylvania, Eastern Europe to the modern period between the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century England.

With the opening of the play, the Prince Vlad was devastated upon the suicide of his beloved wife Princess Elizabeth as a result of a miscommunication, and decided to take revenge from the gods for his predestined tragic life and write his own destiny, which was depicted in ensuing storyline revolving around an eternal battle between good and evil.

As Prince Vlad turned immortal as Dracula to wage a war against the gods, he moved from classical period to modern era, which allowed his coincidental encounter with his wife Elizabeth in her new birth as Mina in the modern aristocratic setting in England. The characters like James and Lucy perfectly depicted the peculiar snobbish aristocratic idiosyncrasies of the early 20th century London.

The character of Jonathan Harker, played by Shah Fahad, completed a perfect triangle to carve out wonderful plot through their tremendous delivery of dialogues and flawless acting skills to make the audience spellbound as well as on constant tenterhooks. The character of Creature, played by Hasan, enhanced horror tone of the play as reflected by the title of the play – Dracula.

In the end, the good emerged victorious over evil with the demise of Dracula through his eternal vulnerability to steel stab at the hands of Harker, but not before uniting Dracula and Mina in eternal bond in the ‘other world’.

The audience was in a trance over the performance of the play with artful music and dance performances of the cast and termed it a unique experience to watch a classic musical theatre play. Due to young cast, directors and the crew, the play managed to gain popularity in the city. With the only show left on Sunday, their success rate is already up.

Director Saihaam Gulzar Khan said, “Amidst laughter, tears and injuries, we are completely blown away by the tireless work that has been put in by the cast, crew and volunteers to bring this amazing production to life. We believe that we have to take Pakistani theatre, cinema and film to a level where it is in accordance with international standards so that Pakistani talent can be showcased on the global platform and Pakistani art gets its due recognition. Theater, film and TV have the ability to break the norms and stereotypes and we are unquestionably proud to present our first thriller, musical- Dracula.” While talking to The News, the co-director, Mahnoor Zaidi, said, “The core team members of Happy Owl Productions: Maaz Alvi, Daniyal Ayat, Ridda Ali and Natalia Rashid Malik and, of course, ourselves have been working on this play for over a year. We debated the prospect of several plays for many weeks until we finally settle on Dracula.” Maaz Khan Alvi, the producer of the play, along with the co-producer, Ridda Ali, said, "This play was something we were thinking to do for a long time. With its strong twists and plot, it is extremely thrilling for the audience. And we are glad that we provided such entertainment to the public where they can enjoy with family and friends."