Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula” has spawned a number of movies and plays and the title character became an iconic role for the late Bela Lugosi.

Stray Dog Theatre Company stages “Dracula” Oct. 25-Nov. 2 at Veterans Memorial Middle School in Blue Island.

“I’ve always been a big fan of monsters and horror stories. I’m a big fan of the story that this was initially adapted from,” said Michael Kocher, director of “Dracula.”

“This adaptation was the first theatrical adaptation of the story. It was done on Broadway in the 1920s by Bela Lugosi. The way that this one stands out is it created the modern conception of the character.

“In the original novel, Dracula’s a loner but when you think of the suave, charismatic vampire it began with this production of the play. This one is very similar to the 1931 movie with Bela Lugosi that Universal Pictures made. It’s almost a direct adaption. A lot of Dracula stories borrow from this one.”

John L. Balderston revised the 1924 play by Hamilton Deane for a Broadway run of “Dracula,” which starred Lugosi in the title role.

In this version of “Dracula,” psychiatrist Dr. Seward’s daughter Lucy is gravely ill from an inexplicable loss of blood so she calls on her friend Van Helsing, a scientist specializing in obscure diseases, for help.

Van Helsing “proposes an unusual diagnosis to Lucy’s afflictions, one having to do with Seward’s mysterious new neighbor, the Transylvanian nobleman Count Dracula” is how Stray Dog Theatre describes the show’s plot.

“‘Dracula’ was actually the first play I had worked on in high school so it was a personal play for me as well. It got me into theater,” said Kocher about being part of the running crew on “Dracula” at Andrew High School in Tinley Park.

“I just liked the live nature of theater that was happening in the moment. It’s very collaborative art.”

Kocher, who often acts in Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre productions, is collaborating with a cast including residents of Chicago’s Beverly community and Oak Lawn for “Dracula.”

“This is a different sort of production and a little more contemporary look at the material. We’ve done some gender swapping that changes some of the dynamics in certain scenes. Van Helsing is played by a talented actress named Kristel Flynn,” said Kocher, of Homewood.

“I thought in some ways that the story was dated. It was a bunch of men and one woman who’s between Dracula, her father, the professor and the fiance. I thought gender swapping was a way it might be a little more interesting and not as dated as before.”

Kocher’s involvement with Stray Dog Theatre dates back to 2015 when he played the henchman Horace in “A Fairy’s Tale.”

Stray Dog Theatre producers Tony Carsella and Lil O’Donnell invited Kocher to bring his take on “Dracula” to Blue Island and offered him the chance to direct the play.

“I think it’ll be a fun show because there’s so much history behind it. It’s a show that’s left a large imprint on horror stories but I also think what we’re doing with it is fresh and fun,” Kocher said.

“It’s just like the Halloween ritual of going through a horror story together. The fact that it’s live theater is different than a movie. The show offers an immediacy and intimacy that a movie can’t offer.”

Jessi Virtusio is a freelancer for the Daily Southtown.