I was lucky enough to be invited to a rehearsal of Dracula: A Case Study, opening today at Theatre Off Jackson. Director Brian Kooser and Monkey Wrench Puppet Lab are the same team responsible for the wondrously creepy and creative Frankenocchio, which played at the Empty Space in 2005, and the same group behind the ever-popular Drunk Puppet Nite at Re-Bar. According to Kooser, “We’ve been making this show for three years. It was supposed to be part of the Empty Space calendar last year, but we all know how that went…It’s the most complex puppet show I’ve ever been part of. We tried our damnedest to be faithful to Bram Stoker’s story, with wild, weird, violent and schizophrenic results. It’s a hell of a ride.”

Here, puppeteer Holly Chernobyl rehearses with “Lucy,” Dracula’s first victim.

The instrument which resembles a cello is actually a Transylvanian percussion instrument called “uto-gardon.” According to Marchette DuBois, who is playing it here, Hungarian folk musicians came in contact with their first cellos in the 1500’s. With a very rudimentary knowledge of stringed instruments, they did their best to re-create
the magical device. The result was this cello-shaped drum which is beat with a club shaped roughly like a bow. Here, it is being used to accompany the violin, giving a very sinister rhythmic thud.

This is a mad spectacle of a puppet show. Shows Thursday-Saturday at 8 pm with an added show on Halloween. Tickets on sale now at brownpapertickets.