Last Wednesday, The Trinity Highschool Department of Theatre Arts opened the fall drama “Dracula”, with a star-studded opening night cast including Everan McCartan as Dracula, Liam Amick as Van Helsing, Ben Scobee as Sieward, and Nolan Williams as Renfield. This inaugural performance was everything live theatre could be.

The performances seen opening night were phenomenal. “There was strong acting with either Nolan or Everan. They did a very good job,” said audience member CJ Taylor. After six weeks of hard work and dedication, our Theatre Rocks were able to put on a fantastic show. The actors all left feeling great knowing that they had put on their best.  

Everan McCartan plays Dracula on both cast nights. His performance proves that he is absolutely perfect for the role of this Transylvanian villain. He really knew how to be a powerful presence on stage, drawing eyes and carrying with him this ominous and powerful aura. This play was absolutely full of talent, with everything going smoothly according to the actors, except for one big thing. 

At the conclusion of the play, when there was just about one minute left, the amount of smoke from the smoke machines which were providing atmosphere hit a critical level, setting off the fire alarms. The fire department had to come and turn off the alarm. The play was so encaptivating that almost nobody from the audience left the theatre for the period that the fire alarm was wailing. As Ben Scobee said, there is always one thing that goes wrong. However, the actors were still overjoyed with their performances, and the audience was reminded about the beauty of live theatre: anything can happen. 

Surprisingly, there was very little chaos behind the scenes even with the fire alarm. Williams (actor of Renfield) said it was “honestly a little dull.” McCartan (actor of Dracula) described it as “unexpected” but nothing more. It was the general consensus amongst all of the actors interviewed that the hard work truly paid off and made a fantastic theatre production. Every actor interviewed was excited to perform in continued showings of Dracula and couldn’t wait to see how the other cast rotation would be. During the interview with Williams, an audience member approached and asked if he was going to pursue a career in theatre. Many people in the audience, especially the older ones, thought that the performances were spectacular. 

Dracula continues this Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Tickets can be purchased at Trinitydota.com.