DAWSON CREEK – Northern Lights Players recently completed a very successful three-night run of Dracula.
The performances were held May 21-23 in the Visual Arts studio on the Dawson Creek Campus of Northern Lights College. The final two nights featured a dinner theatre format, and the closing night was a sellout with more than 100 in attendance.
Jeremy Beaulne, an English instructor at NLC and the play’s director, was pleased.
“Initially, we were a bit worried because we were performing during the week, rather than on the weekend,” Beaulne said. “But there were no major problems, although it was a bit tight getting all the seats into the studio. I’m really happy we were able to do it.”
Moving the set was strenuous work. The set was built in the carpentry building at NLC, and then moved to the basement of the Regional Administration building for rehearsals.
After that, the set was moved to the Kiwanis Performing Arts Centre in Dawson Creek for a performance at the Peace River Zone Drama Festival in early May, and then back to NLC for final rehearsals, and the three nights of performances.
“I really appreciate all the support from Carpentry, Visual Arts, Culinary Arts, and Facilities. There were lots of people at the College who contributed,” Beaulne said.
The dinner theatre was coordinated by the Culinary Arts program under chef Tony Rechsteiner. Darcy Frost, in the Trades and Apprenticeship department, made the costumes. And an NLC carpentry graduate, Melissa Hetenyi, coordinated the sets.
Dracula opened the Peace River Zone drama festival, which ran from May 6-10. Tera Nicholson, who played "Mina Murray," won the Best Supporting Actress and Best Newbie awards.
“I was happy with our performance, but it did feel like we could have used an extra week of rehearsal,” Beaulne said.
Northern Lights Players was formed in January, with the goal of providing an opportunity for NLC students, staff, and alumni to participate in community theatre. There were also a number of community members involved. The group included a core group of 14, including 12 actors.
The version of Dracula performed was Steven Dietz’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel.
|
