Theater on the Road’s annual Dracula production returns to the Howland Cultural Center.

One of the most notorious and nefarious literary characters, Dracula, comes (back) to life onstage this fall through Theatre on the Road’s dramatic retelling of the legendary psychological thriller. The highly anticipated annual performance has become a cornerstone event in the Hudson Valley, selling out shows at unique venues like Rosendale’s Widow Jane Mine and former host Bannerman Island.

Theatre on the Road, a traveling theater troupe, brings to life the original Broadway script which follows the story of Lucy, the beautiful daughter of Dr. Seward, head of an English sanatorium, who falls mysteriously ill. Her fiancé, Jonathan Harker, is desperate for answers. Enter Professor Van Helsing, a polymath scientist and detective with unconventional leanings—and in this retelling, played as a strong female lead—who suspects a far more sinister cause: Count Dracula. Meanwhile, the deranged Renfield, portrayed as a female patient under Seward’s care, becomes the Count’s obsessively devoted servant.

The battle of good versus evil is a known theme of “Dracula,” originally written by Bram Stoker and made popular by the late actor Bella Lugosi (among other dramatic retellings over the years). But this production ties in culturally relevant themes present in modern times: What happens when unchecked power is wielded by those without empathy? How can a united front take action to revitalize the common good? Tickets in link below.