Should we as a society be concerned that there are getting to be as many shows for Halloween as there are Christmas Carols and Nutcrackers for Christmas? Not yet, I’d say. Wait until the Goodman Theatre starts doing one every year.
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Dracula: A Tragedy This swirling, hallucinogenic overhaul of Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel is full of potent ideas. Playwright Mark Mason connects vampirism with the suppression of female sexuality—depicting both Jack the Ripper and a Victorian abortionist as vampiric—and also with colonial exploitation. Incensed that the British revile his blood sucking yet drain colonized people of the resources they need to survive, Dracula aims to bring the empire down. But Mason hasn’t found a coherent way to express his insights as theater. His 85-minute swoon lurches through fragmentary scenes that are usually more confusing than evocative. Stephen James Anderson’s long-suffering cast don’t make sense of it either; I’m not sure anyone could. Through 10/31: Mon-Wed 7:30 PM, Fri-Sat 11:30 PM, Sun 7:30 PM, additional show 10/31 at 7:30 PM, Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-728-7529, redtwist.org, $15. —Justin Hayford
Ghostbox A young widow receives messages from her late husband through a transistor radio and eventually pays a visit to the tiny, bare-bulbed room in which he’s spending eternity. Through long speeches and tense exchanges we learn that they’re devout evangelical Christians whose faith was shattered by the loss of a child. The father, mad with grief and believing himself to be God’s outcast, drowned himself in the bath. Rising playwright Randall Colburn specializes in sympathetic portrayals of born-agains in crisis, but this time he’s heavy-handed and portentous—and the overheated performances in Mitch Golob’s Infusion Theatre Company staging only make matters worse. All the emoting pulls focus from the show’s best and eeriest effect: Kevin Viol’s flickering video projections. Through 10/31: Thu-Sat 8:30 PM, also Sun 10/31, 8:30 PM, Apollo Theater, studio, 2540 N. Lincoln, 773-935-6100, apollochicago.com, $20. —Zac Thompson
The Rip Nelson Halloween Spooktacular Like most Hell in a Handbag shows, this campy, vulgar send-up of mid-70s television variety specials constantly teeters on the brink of collapse. Sometimes it’s sublimely coarse, as when a mentally clouded Kate Smith has a bowel movement while belting God Bless America. And sometimes it just seems like it could use another day of rehearsal. Still, David Cerda’s deliciously overstuffed script captures the inherent absurdity of old network specials, with has-beens and newcomers shoehorned into dreadful skits that make everyone look bad. While the central thread—the desperate efforts of drunken, lecherous, D-listed Rip Nelson to save his career—is the least successfully developed element in the show, the surrounding mayhem is golden, building to Charo’s jaw-droppingly awful finale, “Hoochie Coochie Halloween.” Through 11/6: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 10/31, 7:30 PM, Mary’s Attic Theatre, 5400 N. Clark, 773-784-6969, handbagproductions.org, $12-$17. —Justin Hayford
