No Refund Theatre (NRT) continued its fall catalog with its presentation of “Dracula.” Viewing of the play is available for students from Thursday, October 31, through Saturday, November 2.

“Dracula,” originally a Gothic novel published in 1897 by Bram Stoker, tells the story of Jonathan Harker, who travels to Transylvania and meets the infamous vampire Dracula. In the new and modernized version of the play “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors” written by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen, NRT infuses its play with humor and lightheartedness.

Although the play is set in the Victorian era, NRT adds pop culture references to diffuse the tension brewing between Dracula and Harker. Told through the retelling of journal entries from Harker’s notebook, the story follows real estate agent Harker, who must leave his fiancee Lucy to travel to Transylvania. While in Transylvania with a female Dracula, Harker must question whether a life with Lucy is what he truly wants.

At the same time, Harker’s future sister-in-law becomes bitten by Dracula and falls deathly ill. Harker and his fiancee must find a way to save his sister-in-law, but their relationship is tested along the way.

Directed by Teagan Palatt in her first head directorial role, she felt that the play would be a perfect addition to the fall catalog with its humor and light banter.

“The script is just that funny. The pop culture references are still applicable because it was only written a few years ago,” Palatt said.

With each actor playing at least two characters, Palatt made the conscious decision not to expand the cast.

“I liked having it without the expandable cast because it adds to the chaos and outrageousness of the play, so it was a very conscious decision,” Palatt added. “I knew when I saw the play in January, it would be perfect for Halloweekend because it not only fits in with the rest of our shows, but it’s also just really funny.”

Palatt added music to the comedy of the play, with many of the tense scenes broken by comedically timed pop culture songs.

Unlike other NRT plays, this week’s show is highlighted by its set design with a life-size coffin placed in the center of the stage.

“Making the coffin was really special because I got the chance to make it with my dad at home and now having it in our play is just so special for me,” Palatt said.

Palatt wasn’t the only one who saw the beauty of the play, as her three assistant directors all commented on the mastery of the play.

“I’ve been to a lot of the shows and have a lot of friends in NRT who said to me when the show got announced, ‘I think you would be a really good fit,’ and when I looked into it, it really did seem like a great opportunity,” Carter Cavaliero, a first-time participant in an NRT play, said. “After being a fan for such a long time, it was just a great experience to be a part of this play and help in any way that I could.”

The two other assistant directors, Madelyn Eiser and Brooklyn McDonald shared the same sentiment with Cavaliero as it was both interesting and challenging.

With a background in lighting and tech, McDonald was initially interested in how the show would be able to “tech the play.”

“I was really interested in how we would make the sound effects and work the lighting because it is such an intricate play so figuring out the lights and things like that was really interesting,” McDonald said. “It was also really nice to work and get my first assistant directing experience because although I do work in tech, I’m also a performer, and seeing it from the directed side seemed like a really cool opportunity.”

“I really love Halloween and finding out this play would be performed during Halloweekend seemed like the perfect move,” Eiser said. “I thought it was such an interesting challenge with all the different characters and the moving sets, but it just seemed like a really fun show to do and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

You can catch viewings of NRT’s “Dracula: A Comedy Of Terrors” in Forum 111 at 9 p.m. on Thursday, October 31, with viewings at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 1, and Saturday, November 2. All shows are free.