SCENE BREAKDOWN: RENFIELDS CURSE (working title)

Italicized sections: scenes from the novel

ACT ONE
SCENE 1 Draculas Castle. Vixens attack a sleeping Jonathan. Dracula abruptly intervenes and throws the Vixens a bag containing a baby for them to feast on. Jonathan passes out and Dracula carries him away. SCENE 2 Hawthorn Retreat, 1954. As the castle scene is fading into darkness we hear the voice of a young woman finish telling that part of the novel. It is Sarah Homes. She, Reginald Friendel, Harold Case and Cecil Gould are using the novel as part of their group therapy. Dr. Tess Carhart is leading the session. Don Spelnick and Larry Biffles are the orderlies on duty. Cecil is appalled by the story. Sarah takes the liberty to assign each person in the room a character from the novel. Sarah antagonizes Cecil. He runs out of the room shouting. Harold starts having one of his fits. Larry and Tess go after Cecil. Don takes Harold back to his room. SCENE 3 Sarah and Reginald are left alone in the room. Sarah describes how Jonathan Harker escapes from the castle. At the same time, Jonathan scales down the castle wall. Reginald is charmed by Sarahs enthusiasm. Sarah says she knows Reginalds secret. SCENE 4 Tess interrupts the conversation. Tess sends Sarah back to the womens wing. Tess and Reginald discuss Sarahs infatuation with him and his progress at Hawthorn Retreat. Reginald feels like a prisoner. SCENE 5 Reginald excuses himself. As he leaves, Dr. Michael Shaw enters. Once the doctors are alone, Tess defends her unorthodox methods. She tells Michael that she is still not ready to tell their fellow doctors and the patients about their romantic relationship and recent engagement. She also tells him she is close to figuring out the reasons behind Reginalds behavior. Michael leaves for a surgery appointment. SCENE 6 Tess pauses for a moment then leaves. As she is leaving, Reginald appears and startles her. He says that he forgot his journal. Had Reginald been listening to them? There is a wolfs howl outside the asylum. Reginald looks worried and quickly leaves. SCENE 7 As Reginald leaves, he sees the Nurses. They lead him to his cottage. Nurses set up next scene with Reginald on stage. Wind and rain a storm in both 1954and from the novel. Mina and Lucy are seen together fleeing the storm. The storm forms into Draculas arrival in Whitby, England.

SCENE 8 Reginald is having a restless dream in his room. He hears the orderlies outside his door, but they are now Cockney. Dr. Seward from the novel is standing in Reginald/Renfields room taking notes. Reginald is confused. He believes he is still dreaming. He and Seward stare at each other. When Reginald tries to touch the doctor, Seward leaves. Reginald yells after him. SCENE 9 1954. Larry enters and tells Reginald he has been sleeping all day. Larry talks about the strange storm and Cecils escape. SCENE 10 Tess enters. Reginald reveals some painful truths about himself. Tess exits. SCENE 11 Lucys sleepwalks into Draculas arms. Dracula takes first blood. Mina discovers Lucy unconscious and with two puncture wounds in her neck. SCENE 12 Seward visits Reginald and asks about his lack of interest in his pets. Lawrence and Don enter. Seward and Lawrence leave. Don stays. There is a scream and loud crash. Don rushes out of the room. SCENE 13 Sarah sneaks into Reginalds room. She reveals why she was sent to the asylum. Reginald reveals he is Renfield. SCENE 14 The NURSES change Sarahs clothes to Lucys nightdress. Mina says goodbye to her and joins Jonathan in Budapest. Dracula bites Lucy again. Seward, Donald and Lawrence discover Reginald at Carfax, outside Draculas castle. They restrain him and put him in a chair. SCENE 15 Suddenly, it is the next afternoon at group therapy. The conversation revolves around how Cecil was mauled by a dog when he tried to escape the asylum. Sarah is agitated and pacing. She verbally abuses Harold to get him to stop staring at her. The Nurses come in the room, but only Reginald can see them. When the orderlies try to calm her, Sarah tells them Its all part of the plan and then leaves. Reginald says hes not feeling well. Tess excuses everyone. During the meeting, Seward crosses through the group. SCENE 16 Tess moves over to talk to Michael in his office. They discuss missing residents and Reginalds odd behavior. Michael questions her perspective concerning Reginald. Michael tells her is going to intensify Dons watch on Reginald.

SCENE 17 Arthur, Seward, Quincey and Van Helsing try to save Lucys life. She dies. They carry her off. SCENE 18 Harold stands over Reginald as he sleeps. Reginald wakes up startled. Harold is upset. Reginald calms him with some candy. He tells Harold that he should not come around him anymore and that he has to be brave. Don enters. He takes Harold back to his room. SCENE 19 Tess enters Reginalds room. He gets her to talk about her greatest fear. He reveals that he cannot escape the voices. Tess suggests medication. He says he is going to leave the asylum. Tess says she will consider it. Reginald realizes he is trapped. SCENE 20 The men bury Lucy. SCENE 21 Late that same night, in his room, Sarah and Reginald are talking. Sarah says Dracula has been visiting her on a moonbeam. She wants Reginalds blood. When he refuses, she attacks him. As he screams, we see Dracula and the Vixens coming for Reginald.

ACT TWO
SCENE 22 Mina and Jonathan pass through the streets of London. Jonathan sees Dracula. Lucy the vampire is attacking children. Van Helsing and Seward follow her. SCENE 23 Reginald, Don and Larry are in Reginalds room. They tell Reginald about Sarah. Reginald tells them vampires are real. Don does not believe him. Reginald antagonizes Don. He and Don get into a scuffle. SCENE 24 Seward and Tess call Lawrence and Don out of the room. Reginald hides the keys he took off of Don in the scuffle. Tess enters. Reginald believes she is Mina. Dracula makes an appearance. Reginald almost bites/kisses Tess. She leaves. SCENE 25 Van Helsing, Seward, Arthur and Quincey (The Brotherhood) discover Lucy is a vampire. She tries to seduce and attack Arthur. They fight her off with crucifixes. Reginald gathers his belongings and flees his cottage. The men stake Lucy in her coffin. As Lucy screams outMichael performs a lobotomy on Sarah.

SCENE 26 Michael tells Tess he wants to perform a lobotomy on Reginald. Tess refuses. He informs her she is no longer Reginalds physician. SCENE 27 Sarah is seen haunting the halls of Hawthorn Retreat. Larry and Don are on clean-up duty. Harold shows up mysteriously and scares them. Larry takes him back to his room. Don hears Sarah singing. He looks for her. Don is murdered, but we do not see the killers face. SCENE 28 Reginald has been captured. The Nurses bring him into his room in a straightjacket. Tess comes in to talk to him about his situation. Larry has to stay in the room with her. Reginald is blamed for Dons death. Reginald begs her to let him leave. She gives him a pill. SCENE 29 The Brotherhood (except for Quincey) chases Dracula from his Carfax residence. SCENE 30 Reginald & Larry are in Reginalds room. Reginald is tied up. Larry is going to kill him because he believes Reginald is responsible for all the killings. Harold comes in and disrupts them. Harold knocks out Larry and drags him out of the room. SCENE 31 With Reginald still in a straitjacket, gagged and tied to a chair, Dracula and the Vixens arrive as red mist. Dracula brutally attacks Mina. Reginald flips out and falls onto the floor. SCENE 32 Van Helsing, Arthur, Quincey, and Seward enter Reginald/Renfields room, and find him on the floor. He tells them that Dracula is after Mina. They rush out of the room. SCENE 33 Reginald watches Dracula open up his shirt and give Mina his blood. Jonathan is next to them, apparently asleep. The Brotherhood tries to stop Dracula. There is a fight. Dracula escapes. Mina collapses. Jonathan carried her off. SCENE 34 Reginald prepares himself for battle with Dracula. He sits quietly, waiting. SCENE 35 There is a knock. Michael asks permission to enter Reginalds room. He and Tess enter and tell Reginald that Larry has been killed. Tess goes out to calm Sarah. Michael reveals that his body contains the spirit of Dracula and that he needs the vampire blood in Reginald to complete the transformation. He and Dracula attack Reginald with a knife. Tess intervenes. Reginald fights Michael and Dracula. Reginald drinks Tess blood, kills Michael and then forces Tess to kill him. Reginald dies a free man.