DRACULA Directed by Jake Van Hoorn SHOW DATES October 9-11 and 15-18, 2026 AUDITIONS Location: First Christian Church, 6400 N. University, Peoria, IL Dates/Times: July 31 at 6:00 pm and August 1 at 1:00 pm Sign up for an audition slot here: www.signupgenius.com/go/4090C4FACAF29A1F58-63008828-dracula THE PLOT The most iconic vampire story of all time comes to Peoria Players’ stage just in time for Halloween! As mysterious events begin to happen to Mina Murray (her fiancée Jonathan Harker has gone missing somewhere in Transylvania), Lucy Westenra (she has begun sleepwalking and talking in her sleep) and Dr. John Seward (his patient Renfield has been causing trouble and frequently refers to his “Master”), a boat crashes to shore and brings with it the magnetically evil Count Dracula. Dr. Seward enlists the help of his friend and mentor, Dr. Van Helsing, who determines they are dealing with a vampire. Together, our characters try to piece together a way to stop Dracula and save themselves from a fate worse than death. THE CHARACTERS Dracula: Age flexible. A vampire from Transylvania. A relic from the past. The version of Dracula in this script is not the tragic, lovelorn character found in other adaptations. To quote Robert Eggers’s recent adaptation, he is an appetite, nothing more. Renfield: Age flexible. A patient in Dr. Seward’s asylum with a larger plan. Renfield greets the audience at the top of the show and bids them farewell during curtain call. This is easily the most physically demanding role in the show, lots of jumping around and fight choreography. Mina Murray: 20s-30s, engaged to Jonathan Harker and looking forward to married life. When Harker disappears and her best friend Lucy begins behaving strangely, Mina takes charge of the situation and works with Dr. Seward and Van Helsing to get to the bottom of the mystery. Jonathan Harker: 20s-40s, Mina’s intended, a solicitor trying to make his career by facilitating a real estate deal with the wealthy, reclusive Count Dracula in Transylvania. The closest this show has to an “everyman” character. Lucy Westenra: 20s-30s, Mina’s best friend, juggling marriage proposals from three different men. In the same way Dracula is a man of the past, Lucy is a woman of the future.
Jonathan Seward: 30s-40s, one of Lucy’s suitors and the head of the local insane asylum, of which Renfield is a patient. Seward is rigid, lacks humor and creativity but his love for Lucy keeps him human.
Van Helsing: Age and gender flexible (I would love for this role to be played by a woman), an expert on obscure diseases and the supernatural, they are called in to assist with the mysterious events happening in England. This version of Van Helsing is a person of both science and faith and believes that both can exist in conjunction with each other.
Ensemble (Size Flexible, at least 3 women and maybe 1 man, perhaps more): This group will play servants, maids, butlers, asylum attendants, and Dracula’s brides.
Jake will also have everyone perform a monologue before doing cold readings from the script. Following is the monologue:
You are too prejudiced. You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Do you not think there are things which you cannot understand and yet which are: that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which cannot be contemplated by men's eyes, because they know – or think they know – some things which other men have told them. It is the fault of our science that wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain. But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new, and which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young – like the fine ladies at the opera. My thesis is this: I want you to believe.
THE CREW
Jake Van Hoorn – Director
Julie Diers – Stage Manager
Jes King – Props/Blood
Amy Williams – Hair/Makeup/Blood
Adrianne Yoder – Costumes
Wayne Carey – Light Design
Ecca Diers – Light Execution
Jace McCance – Sound
Aaron Elwell – Set Design and Construction
Adam Sitton – Projection Design
Jeremie Davis – Fight Choreography
Sagan Drake and Rachel Feather – Intimacy Coordinators
Sydney Abdnour – Choreography
Bill Barr – Assistant Director
Trish Ballard – Production Secretary
Note from the Director:
I’m very excited to be bringing another spooky show to Peoria Players for Halloween! I love Steven Dietz’s adaptation because of how faithful it is to the original book and the opportunity for us to explore its various layers and subtext in a way Stoker was not allowed to fully articulate in 1897. With that in mind, this is a much more violent adaptation than other versions out there that depicts Dracula’s attacks as violently as they are described in the book and the trauma suffered by his victims. We will have a fight choreographer and intimacy coordinator working on these bits of the show with me to always ensure the safety of our cast and crew. To anyone interested in being involved, I would strongly ask you to read the script ahead of time to make sure you’re comfortable with the subject matter and physical and emotional demands the show asks of its performers.
Backstage-wise, we could especially use anyone interested in helping out with hair and makeup. Over the course of Act 1, Dracula goes from young to old back to young, several other characters become vampires over the course of the show, and every single character gets bloody, so we definitely need people able to help during performances to make these transformations happen.
If you have any questions about auditions, are interested in helping backstage, or would like to read the script, do not hesitate to email me at van.hoorn.jacob@gmail.com.
