Dracula

Remember the good old days of radio—when people had to use their imaginations—when the mind was a stage? Those days are back—only better! You can SEE as well as HEAR radio programs. "I have long followed the trail of the vampire," Professor Van Helsing tells us, "It lives on…for centuries…draining the blood…the life…from its victims, causing them also to become vampires. And this is our story. The story of a small band or mortals who faced the most powerful vampire of them all." It is 1888 and, in Whitby, England, Lucy Westenra has fallen ill. Her fiancée, Jack Seward has brought her to his sanitarium and called in a battery of physicians, but her condition worsens. Desperate, Jack sends for Van Helsing, a specialist in obscure diseases. Van Helsing's visit coincides with that of Jonathan Harker and his wife, Mina, who had been Seward's nurse, but resigned to care for Jon during his recent illness. Better now, Jon remarks that his law firm has purchased, for a Transylvanian client, the old Abbey next door to Seward's sanitarium. The client's name is Count Dracula. It was during his time in Transylvania that Jon fell ill, though most of his memory of the visit appears to have been erased. R.M. Renfield, a resident at the asylum, seems a lunatic, but Van Helsing perceives there is more to Renfield than meets the eye. Despite all Van Helsing's efforts, Lucy dies. He now turns his attention to Jon. Under hypnosis, Jon remembers his time in Transylvania, and that Count Dracula is a supernatural monster. Newspaper stories speak of a Lady in White haunting the Hampstead Heath, and Van Helsing reveals that this is Lucy, now undead. Seward, enraged, orders Van Helsing from his house. Alone, Van Helsing turns to find Dracula in the room with him. A struggle ensues as Seward and the Harkers enter. Dracula leaves through a window just as Renfield is discovered, broken and bloody, at the door. Before he dies, Renfield reveals his role in Dracula's plot, including the vampire's double life as Jack the Ripper in London. Renfield begs Van Helsing to save Mina, whom Dracula has begun to convert to vampirism. In a final battle at Dracula's Abbey mansion, the vampire is vanquished and Mina is purified as the sun rises.

One Simple Set—A radio station—made up mostly of drapes, a control booth (if desired), mikes, and sound effects equipment.

Less Wardrobe—no changes of wardrobe are necessary.

Less Staging—actors simply stand at mikes most of the time.

Less Rehearsal—actors don't memorize lines—they just read them.

Fewer Cast Members—one actor plays many parts.

No Props—only scripts.