Obie-winning monologuist David Drake will present the world premiere of his new play, Son of Drakula, for a limited run at Baltimore's Theatre Project beginning May 16.

Drake, who wrote and starred in the acclaimed Off-Broadway play The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, will perform his new work through June 1 at the Baltimore, MD, theatre. Featuring direction by Chuck Brown, Son of Dracula is an autobiographical monologue that concerns Drake's quest to explore the hidden truths and meaning in his birth name, David Drakula. The quest takes the actor-writer through an Eastern European journey where he tackles such cultural phenomena as "the endurance of Bram Stoker's creation, the familial obstacles of male intimacy, modern gay identity politics, post-Communist Eastern Europe and the wild world of vampire worship."

Drake captured the public's attention in his autobiographical one-man show, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, which received critical praise, an Obie Award and was subsequently turned into a feature film, which will be released on DVD/video on May 27. A recent evening at Anthology Film Archives, "Drake's Cake: A Night of Movies Starring David Drake," boasted four shorts that Drake acted in as well as his full-length turn in "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me." The playwright-performer is currently an artist-in residence at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York City.

Son of Drakula will play Baltimore's Theatre Project, which is located at 45 West Preston Street in Maryland. Tickets are priced at $20 and are available by calling the box office at (410) 752-8558. For more information, go to www.theatreproject.org.

Drake's Son of Drakula will make its New York debut at Dance Theatre Workshop's new theatre on West 19th Street in October 2002. Drakula heads to Alaska for a production in the winter of 2003. —By Andrew Gans