The theater department held a matinee performance of Dracula Wednesday, Oct. 10 for students from Chillicothe High School, to receive feedback and give an example of how a college level performance differs from high school ones.

“Theater is a generational art, and it is important that we do our part in passing it down to the next,” Stage Manager Emily Burns said.

The high school brought roughly 30 students on the hourlong trip from Chillicothe.  The students were able to see the department’s production of Dracula in its full form.  On some occasions the performance would be similar to a rehearsal, however this one was not.  This particular situation was a new experience to not only the high school students, but also some of the actors.

“It’s weird not having a full crowd, but knowing there are still people out there,” theater junior Nicole Smalls said. “You have to remind yourself to still treat it like an actual performance.”

After the performance was over, the students stayed in the crowd and asked questions.  This was used as a time to not only learn tips and tricks from the actors and technicians of the department, but to also determine how the process of the play’s production was different from what they were used to in high school productions.

Questions asked involved around different inspirations characters took into consideration while building their own character, as well as the back stage process of building the set and lighting designs.

The lead of the show, Tyler Masters, theater junior, explained how she got herself into the mindset of Dracula.

“I like to think about killing. It gets me into her head and helps figure out her intentions,” Masters said.

As well as the Q&A with the cast and crew, students were also able to take a tour through the department.  They had the opportunity to look upstairs and see the dressing room, costume construction shop, and meet department head Elizabeth Lewandowski.  They then could walk across the catwalk above the studio theater and find themselves in the construction shop.  Here they saw where the construction of the set they just watched was built.  Along the way, actors from the show were also available to talk with off-stage and out of character, and talk about the department and school in general.

Dracula has its final run this weekend with two 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursday and Friday night, ending on a 2:30 p.m. Saturday performance.