As the sun sets over the grassy hills, a lonely traveler — you, perhaps — leaves the bustling city and heads for the scenic countryside. After driving down a winding, semideserted road for several miles, you reach your destination just as the dusk gives way to night.

All appears peaceful as your host, a charismatic man — a count — offers you a seat to rest and remain for a spell or perhaps to stay forever.

As night unfolds around you, so too does a new stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula." Visitors who experience the production at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum will no doubt realize that this rustic Topanga Canyon theater is the perfect place to experience a vampire thriller.

Founded by the late actor Will Geer, who was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Theatricum has become the area's premiere outdoor venue.

Its summer season often is themed, and this year, the productions all involve magic and tales of the unexplainable. There's Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," as well as "Blithe Spirit," the first time that the venue has tackled a work by comedy-of-manners specialist Noel Coward.

But the most anticipated production is "Dracula," adapted and directed by Ellen Geer, Will's daughter and the theater's artistic director. It will open Saturday and run through Sept. 29.

"People have for a long time been saying we should do Dracula,' but I kept pooh-poohing it," Geer said during a rehearsal break. "But that's because what I knew about Dracula' is what the media had delivered to me. Then I read the source material. I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the language and realized I wanted to do it so we could properly honor Bram Stoker."

The novel, published in 1897 when Stoker was 49, was not the first story about vampires, but it remains the most popular. The story revolves around a powerful bloodsucking vampire whose plans for world conquest involve moving from Transylvania to London, where he put the city's population under his spell.

Although a critical success, "Dracula" didn't become recognized as a worldwide classic until years later, spurred in part by two film versions, 1922's "Nosferatu" and 1931's Bela Lugosi vehicle. But neither of these films, Geer contends, or others, retains the essence of Stoker's novel.

"The well-delineated characters and wonderful dialogue are lost," she said, "so I made sure this adaptation focuses on those elements."

Perhaps it's simply a coincidence, but Geer said that for some reason, she could work on the script only at night. She would wake from a sound sleep at 3 a.m., write for three hours and retire as the sun began to rise.

To best capture the novel's eerie tone, Geer commissioned original music from her nephew, Marshall McDaniel. After studying at Cal State Northridge, McDaniel moved for two years to Trossingen, Germany, to continue his cello studies. "Dracula" is his first major theater work, but, Geer said, the music is haunting.

"I was in the middle of rehearsal and heard some practicing on a chorale piece, and it stopped me in my tracks," she said. "It's startling."

Geer had no idea who would play the title role when she wrote the script, but later realized that Chad Jason Scheppner would be ideal.

"Chad's movement and his intensity show a great understanding of the character," she said about the five-year company member.

The production also will include period costumes, further honoring the time and place of Stoker's world.

Although most Theatricum plays have matinee performances, "Dracula," due to its subject matter, will be performed only at night.

Its producer, Heidi Davis, who directed this season's "Blithe Spirit," called this "Dracula" frightening.

"And that's just seeing it during rehearsals," she said.

— E-mail freelance columnist Jeff Favre at jjfavre@yahoo.com.