Go! review

Some things are better left dead. Or undead, as the case may be.

By this time, it’s nearly impossible to create a “Dracula” on stage that is truly as chilling and terrifying as it’s meant to be. It’s a story that’s been so done and overdone that even when one tries to play it straight with some spectacular special effects, it still comes across as dated and, frankly, smells a bit cheesy.

The current Playhouse in the Park production is a case in point. Though loaded down with special effects — some more effective than others — the story plods along with the same tired cliches and when the moments come when the hair is supposed to be standing up on the backs of our necks, we laugh instead. And it’s not the uncomfortable laughter that sometimes squeaks out when we’re afraid, but the laughter that comes from seeing something silly.

In this century, it might seem to make more sense then to play it for laughs, the camp it up, to let the Count pose and posture, to turn the spooky music up loud and let us have some fun with it.

But director Stephen Hollis seems to believe that there are still some chills left in the tired old story, but he’s mistaken. The actors all seem to want to break out in melodramatic swoons and swaggers, but their restraint is, unfortunately, nearly palpable.

The Count just doesn’t seem to have the bite he used to have.

how to go
WHAT: “Dracula” by Hamilton Dean and John L. Balderson, based on the novel by Bram Stoker
WHERE: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Eden Park, Cincinnati
WHEN: Through Oct. 5
COST: $43-$56
MORE INFO: (513) 421-3888; www.cincyplay.com