A first-time actor takes the title role when the Orinda Starlight Village Players open "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on Friday, Sept. 4, at the Orinda Community Center Park Amphitheater.

The production closes out OrSVP's 43rd season with a multimedia staging that combines video projections, audio recordings and live performance. Director Malcolm Cowler's adaptation combines video projections, audio recordings and live performance to create an atmosphere that recalls a black-and-white movie, The Orinda News reported.

Illia Borstov-Shrago, a newcomer to OrSVP, plays Dracula. Borstov-Shrago works in education and holds a degree in history specializing in Imperial-era Russia. He said he has no prior stage experience.

"I decided, more or less spontaneously, to try to go to a theatrical audition. To my great surprise, I got Dracula, and I'm looking forward to it immensely," Borstov-Shrago told The Orinda News.

He said he has loved the novel since he was a teenager and re-reads it every few years. The company, he noted, is only a year younger than he is, and he trusts Cowler and costume designer Matt Cardigan-Smith to guide him through his debut.

Cardigan-Smith designed and created the costumes for the production. The 15-member cast also includes Sophie Amador, Isaac Ariaga, Amanda Beaton, Marc Berman, Monica Bonnington, Maya Cornwall, Clara Decker, Rebecca Grinsstaig, Abe Karplus, Milo Michaels, Siobhan O'Brien, Kenny Silberberg, Jennifer Su and Tom Westlake.

Cowler is a longtime OrSVP collaborator. The Orinda News reported this production brings his Dracula adaptation back to the Orinda stage, though details of the earlier staging were not available.

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