UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 8, Page 9
October 20, 1994
Halloween treat; Mason directs Drama League in classic 'Dracula'

     It is exactly one month before the opening night of Dracula at
the Wilmington Drama League and minutes before rehearsal begins this
September evening. The props person says she needs a letter opener, an
ice pick, a magnifying glass and a black doctor's bag.
     For now, a coffee cup poses as a flask. Scott F. Mason, assistant
director of the Perkins Student Center and the play's director,
orchestrates a movement with one of his actors on a makeshift set.
"Remember the hyper business, James," he says, motioning with his
hands. Mason then sits at a table and whispers, "Lights dim, French
doors open."
     Rehearsal begins and within minutes you realize that if this
weren't the lobby of a local theatre company, and four stacked benches
weren't supposed to represent a stairwell, you'd swear you were in a
British parlor hearing stories about vampires and werewolves in
London.
     To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the original London premiere
of this classic thriller, the Wilmington Drama League is staging
Dracula through Oct. 30. Mixing ingredients from many Dracula
incarnations, from the Bela Lugosi version to Francis Coppola's Bram
Stoker's Dracula, and through a study of the main character, Mason
said his production attempts to tread the fine line between sensuality
and passion.
     "This is a play for the senses," he says. "Dracula symbolizes
people's external passions, and the decision of whether we choose to
act on them or whether we deny them. The elements of this play are so
appealing because they are so forbidden. I want the audience to see
this passion on stage and then have their imaginations kick in."
     The play is the stuff of legend: The world's most famous vampire
sets his sights on two young women in the Seward household. Lucy, the
fiancee of Dr. Seward, is the first to be seduced and killed. Seward's
lovely sister Mina is due next. Enter Mina's fiancee Jonathan Harker,
Seward, and Prof. Van Helsing-an expert on vampire mythology-all of
whom attempt to save Mina from Lucy's fate.
     Mason thinks highly of the 10-member cast.
     "As far as total cohesiveness, this is the closest I've ever been
to a professional cast," Mason said. "Everybody is constantly
dissecting the play. Nobody wants to leave after rehearsal."
     Compounded with the common nuisances of shaping a play, a theatre
director these days has to compete with the latest sci-fi blockbuster
at the local cineplex for the audience's attention.
     With an eye on the stage and another toward the demands of the
modern theatregoer, Mason has animated his production with special
effects and a soundtrack running through a majority of the play.
     As a signature imprint, he has added a finely choreographed
murder sequence that opens the performance.
     "I am approaching this play as if I were directing a film," he
said. "I don't want to bastardize the message of the play, but people
don't engage in theatre the way they used to, and I need to pay
attention to their tastes in order to make the play as appealing as
possible."
     During the last 10 years, Mason has written, directed and acted
in 75 shows throughout New Castle County, for 10 theatre companies.
     He wrapped up work in August as a lead performer in The
Brandywiners' production of Brigadoon at Longwood Gardens, and is
currently in rehearsal for two holiday favorites, The Nutcracker and A
Christmas Carol for the Delaware Dance Company and Shoestring
Productions, respectively.
     Lend Me A Tenor, his directorial debut at the Wilmington Drama
League, was voted one of the best local plays of 1992 by the News
Journal. He received rave reviews for his role as James Leeds in the
Drama League's production of Children of a Lesser God in 1992 (he
learned sign language for that role), and he won a Drama League best
supporting actor award in 1993 for his portrayal of the Man Going Back
in The Grapes of Wrath.
     Mason is known as a playwright as well, having written 11 shows
for the E-52 Theatre Company and the Bacchus Players.
     Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, his first play, premiered in 1985 as
an E-52 production while he was an undergraduate. He has written the
book for three Joyce Hill Stoner musicals in the past four years and
is currently writing a fourth, 1-900-The-Show, opening next April at
the Bacchus Theatre. The story deals with the impact of the modern
electronic age on love and relationships in the '90s. Stoner,
chairperson of the University's Department of Art Conservation, last
collaborated with Mason in 1993 on Barbie The Musical: As She Dreams
It.
     Though Mason would eventually like to arrive in New York City as
an actor, director or writer, his goals in theatre are more immediate
and local. He'd like to expand his acting to include dinner theatre,
and he would like to see one of his plays produced by an area theatre
company.
     "If you don't take risks, you achieve nothing," he said. "While
I'm not in New York, I want to gain the most experience I possibly
can."
                                                          -Richard Gaw
 
Discount coupons
     Dracula, at the Wilmington Drama League, continues Oct. 21, 22,
28 and 29, with matinees on the 23 and the 30 All shows are at 8 p.m.,
except for the Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12. Call 655-
4982 for reservations. Discount coupons, worth $2 off the ticket
price, are available for University employees from the University of
Delaware Credit Union. Call 831-2327 for information.