I love horror. So when I heard that Southwestern College (SWC) was doing a “blood” rehearsal for its new horror comedy, “Dyin’ for Dracula,” I had to check it out. Warning: Blood will flow … but it’s all fake and even edible.
SWC's "Dyin’ for Dracula" serves up a play within a play.
"It's a horror comedy about a group of actors who are putting on a play called 'Dracula,' the traditional 'Dracula' play. However, there's a vampire in the theater, and we have to figure out who it is before everyone perishes," said Ruff Yeager, co-author of the play and a professor of theater arts at SWC.
Late last month, the cast and crew were getting ready for their first blood rehearsal.
"We've hired an expert, Monique Hanson, who is helping us with the gore," added Omri Schein, co-author of the play and an adjunct instructor at SWC.
Hanson gleefully calls herself "the blood sport queen" and was not the least bit shy about covering students, the set and herself in various types of blood.
"I'm making all of the blood packs, the blood, all of the wet stuff you see for 'Dyin' for Dracula,'" Hanson said.
I arrived as the cast and crew prepared for their first blood splatter rehearsal. A tarp covered the stage as Hanson's blood crew wheeled out a cart filled with squibs, intestines, gallons of blood and hoses to spray actors down with blood.
Estrella Gomez is an SWC student who plays a character that gets turned into a succubus.
"For weeks, I've been waiting for this moment because I was really excited to play with, like, fake blood," Gomez said enthusiastically.
Hanson could not be happier to introduce students to all the bloody devices they would be using in the play.
"Watching them through the process and just commit to it and not be shy. It's really cool to watch them enjoy it, and we're not forcing them to do it," Hanson said.
And she wasn't forcing anyone. When Hanson asked for volunteers to test squibs — packets of fake blood that are burst open to simulate a bullet wound or bite on the neck — the students eagerly lined up.
Dakarrai Roberson needed to test a squib for a scene in which he gets shot.
"It was like a little bloody packet made out of laundry detergent," Roberson said. "And I just squeezed it against my chest, and then it just blew up all over my shirt, and that's how people die in the play."
And a lot of them die — almost the entire cast. That requires a lot of blood.
"So there are three buckets of blood back there," Yeager noted. "Home Depot five-gallon buckets of blood, from which they are taking the blood for the stage. Someone gets an arm torn off, someone gets decapitated, someone has their intestines eaten. Yeah, it's great fun."
Hanson is particularly proud of the intestines she has made.
"We have some edible parts in the show that I made with marshmallows and treats and Halloween fun stuff," Hanson said.
Hanson said there is no instruction manual for this kind of stuff. You just have to use your imagination and have some fun. She proudly served up a sample intestine for me, and it was indeed sweet, fruity and effectively gruesome. It was also vegan to accommodate the actors who needed to rip them out and eat them.
"So in the scene, I'm supposed to eat the guts," Gomez said. She followed Hanson's instructions: Rip into the gut bag, pull out the intestines, play with them and chew on them. Swallowing was optional, even though they were 100% edible.
The cast was enthusiastic about the display of blood effects at the splatter rehearsal.
"The audience is gonna love it," Roberson said. "I feel like they're gonna be amazed with the blood."
Hanson wanted to make sure all the actors were comfortable with the blood because the production is live theater.
"The thing I love about theater across the board in general is there is no stop. There is no retake. There is no cut. You continue. You can't go back to the top of the show if you didn't like something," Hanson said. "There's like a different heartbeat because the show has a forward pulse."
But "Dyin’ for Dracula" is a comedy about a production where everything goes wrong, so there is room to have fun, especially with the blood.
"I'm a big fan of camp, especially horror camp. I love the gore. I grew up a lot with the Hammer movies. So the show is very camp. The show is not realistic. It's over the top and fun," Schein said.
"Seeing how the blood is gonna work makes it even more camp, and I really like it," Gomez said in agreement.
And once this comedy of terrors is set in motion, nothing can stop it from reaching its bloody end.
"At the end of the play — I will give this away — the stage is strewn with dead, bloody bodies," Yeager said.
Hanson is delighted to help deliver that high body count, with gallons of blood every night and a level of enthusiasm that inspires everyone to put on a killer show. It's rare to see someone having this level of fun at work.
"Dyin' for Dracula" has four more gloriously gruesome and bloody performances Oct. 14-17 at the Studio Theatre at SWC's Performing Arts Center.
You can also find out more about SWC's excellent Theatre Arts Department and its offerings, including a program for high school students), on the department's website.
