Playing the paranoid, eccentric asylum patient “Renfield” in the recently opened production of Dracula has been a new kind of task for Charles Kennedy. The character is tormented at the hands of both a manipulative vampire and the psychiatrists who refuse to believe him – not the type of role Kennedy often gets called in for (at least for now). It’s tricky when playing a character who is described as “crazy” since an actor can forget to have anything coherent to say or do.
However Charles Kennedy chooses to play Renfield as a person with concrete desires and opinions, but without following the norms of polite conversation. This staging of the play includes moments where Renfield is on stage with nothing but himself or audience members to talk to, often with no scripted dialogue. 
Kennedy makes use of these moments by talking to himself in what could be a real discussion – just no one knows with whom. One cast member said “I feel like you could lock him in an empty room and just watch what he does”. While Kennedy did find it hard to abandon the instinct to avoid talking to yourself when you know you are being watched, the actual intent of the conversation was not hard to draw up. Many of us have things we are arguing over or working through in our minds. Allowing that to show is what makes Renfield seem crazy, but also human. Kennedy asserts that he has plenty of material: In a society like this, any person in their right mind has lots of things that drive them crazy.
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Only a few more dates to see this production!
October 19th-21st, 26th & 27th. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 PM and Sunday performances are at 4:00 PM.
http://www.interactproductions.org/dracula
“Charles Kennedy who portrayed Renfield, brought the character to life by making certain physical and vocal choices that made him the creepiest in the cast, which is exactly what we need to see for this role.” broadwayworld.com