Penn-Trafford High School Drama Guild is going a little batty with a humorous take on the Dracula story.

“Dracula: A Comic Thriller Starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson” will be staged at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the high school in Harrison City.

Tickets for each performance are $5 at the door.

The Kent R. Brown play follows the adventures of Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson, the nieces of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. With their famous uncles vacationing in the Congo, the pair — resourceful detectives in their own right — must save London from Count Dracula and his blood-thirsty groupies, the Draculettes – all while avoiding their homework.

Seniors in the starring roles include Cameron Powell as Shirley, Leah Kaczmarkiewicz as Jennie and Nicholas Freilino as Dracula.

Director Tom Bekavac says he chose “Dracula: A Comic Thriller” in part because the show includes a large cast, allowing many students to participate in the guild’s return to live theater, following a pandemic year of virtual productions.

“I was looking for something perfect for the Halloween season. When I read through the script, I loved all the characters as well as the use of the ensemble in the storytelling,” Bekavac said. “This play even brings the audience right into the story as the cast at times talks directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.”

Learning and relearning

“We’re going into ‘Dracula’ knowing that we haven’t performed live or without masks since ‘The Mouse that Roared’ in November 2019,” said Jennifer Haberberger, PTHS Drama Guild sponsor. “We have two classes of students who have never been within 3 feet of each other or unmasked to perform. Stage managers have never called a regular show in its entirety.

“It’s so wonderful to be back, but we have a lot of learning and relearning to do to get to where we want to be,” she added.

Cast members declare themselves up to the challenge.

“This show is perfect for our return to live theater,” Kaczmarkiewicz said. “I’m excited because my character not only is intimately involved in the comic adventure to defeat Dracula, but she also gets to engage the audience, who will join her on this quest.”

“Doing a show live is exhilarating,” said junior Phelan Newman, who plays Sherlock Holmes’s housekeeper Lucretia Dobrinski. “Hearing the audience react, all those eyes watching us, the applause, the laughter. It keeps the show going. It keeps us going.”

Newman said she was especially excited to hone her stage-combat and vampire-slaying skills: “I don’t want to give too much away, but there may be some beheading. That will be a first for me.”

Powell said her role as Shirley Holmes “has taught me a lot about acting. I can’t wait to grow in my character even more.”

“Imagine being able to take a comedic approach to the Dracula story,” said junior Zach Grabowski, who plays Jonathan Harker. “It allows us to explore exciting new characteristics of Dracula, all in a lighter tone.”

Other featured cast members include senior Abby Bass-Riley as Sabrina Van Helsing, the daughter of author Bram Stoker’s celebrated vampire slayer, and senior Paige Currie as Wilhelmina Murray.

During the pandemic, the drama guild performed remotely in two musicals, “Footloose” and “Working,” and a play, “Most Likely To: Senior Superlative Monologues.”

“With ‘Footloose’ we were two weeks’ shy of opening night when we shut down,” Haberberger said. “It was pretty tragic, but sometimes learning how to overcome and grow from unfortunate experiences make the final outcome that much sweeter. We learned how to record audio, produce and edit full productions, as well as how to work together in very trying, socially distanced times.”

“For some of the kids, being in the musical was the only thing that got them through the pandemic. Knowing that we were going to do whatever we could do to make it happen while keeping everyone safe, was why they got out of bed in the morning,” she said.

For more information on “Dracula” and other drama guild news, visit pthsdramaguild.com.

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