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photo credit Rob Jones
BATHORY, The Blood Countess |
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| Just in time for the Halloween Season,…a legend of horror takes the stage,…. | |
| Before Dracula sprung from the imagination of Bram Stoker,… | |
| Before Mary Shelley created the tale of Frankenstein,… | |
| A true monster walked the earth... |
t h e e m p t y s p a c e s t h e a t r e c o
presents a world premier
BATHORY
The Blood Countess
Written and Directed by John DiDonna
STARRING
Nikki Darden Samantha O'Hare Peg O'Keef
As Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the Beast of Cachtice
John Bateman Blake Logan Babette Garber Peni Lotoza
Susan Woodbury Beth Harless Pamela Stone Corey Volence
Produced by John DiDonna and Seth Kubersky
With original music by Kevin G. Becker
Additional musical themes by Dennis Bathory
Collaborating Partner Anna DeMers
publicity photo
OCTOBER 19 th – NOVEMBER 3 rd
Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sunday 10/28 @ 8:30pm
(Note: Saturday Oct 20th @ 9pm)
The John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center
The Mandell Theatre
812 E Rollins Street , Orlando Florida 32803
(Corner of Princeton and 1792 in Loch Haven Park )
For Tickets and Reservations please call 407.328.9005
On December 29 th , 1610 a small party led by the Lord Palatine, Count George Thurzo, arrived at Cachtice Castle only to find the battered and bloody remains of a variety of women who had died ferociously within those walls.
The Hungarian show trials that were to take place within days revealed the horrid realities of torture, bloodletting, and the murder of over 600 women.
It was these events that would lead to the centuries old legend of a woman thought to be one of the most evil and prolific serial killers to have ever lived, Countess Erzsebet Bathory – called by legend and folklore ‘The Countess of Blood”.
The servants who assisted Erzsebet, commonly called Elizabeth , were put to death, but for political and economic reasons, Bathory herself was never even tried.
Sentenced in abstentia she was to live out the remaining days of her life walled into her rooms at the castle, where she died in August of 1614.
Oftentimes called a “vampire” herself, countless books, legends, movies and even an opera have been written about Elizabeth Bathory, and just in time for the 2007 Halloween season,
The Empty Spaces Theatre Co brings to life the horrors of “The Beast of Cachtice” in its world premiere play BATHORY “The Blood Countess”
The horrors of Elizabeth's bloody reign will splash across the stage in the Shakespeare Center's Mandell Theatre (where Empty Spaces has previously performed their acclaimed productions of
Stripped , Ubu Roi and most recently Bent ) beginning October 19 th and playing through November 3 rd Utilizing what historical facts still exist, the transcripts of the trial testimonies, as well as centuries of folklore and legend,
DiDonna and his collaborators meld horror, psychology, witchcraft, and even compassion into what is sure to be a roller coaster Halloween ride.
Empty Spaces is proud to bring to the stage at the Mandell Theatre a selection of the best acting talent that Central Florida has to offer.