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I’m so sorry we didn’t learn, George.

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I hope none of you disappear in the coming days. Seriously don't do anything that can't be undone.

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What a loud baby

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Dracula book illustration by Fernando Vicente

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It's November 6

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My local community theatre did a production of Dracula (Steven Dietz's version). My reflections:

- Quite a faithful retelling! The usual shuffling and truncating and missing our beautiful boys Arthur and Quincey (maybe they spent the whole play out having adventures together). They did a whole lot with two doors, a bed, a rear projected window (for moons and lightning), a soundscape and a few boxes.

- They shuffled the order around at the start, having the storm at not-Whitby, Lucy's first sleepwalking, and Renfield's agitation happening simultaneously, with brief flashes of Jonathan feeling tormented but not explaining why.

- I thought they skipped over the whole castle sequence until Mina and Can Helsing read the journal together, and then we flashed back and did the whole sequence with Mina sitting Right There on stage and occasionally reacting to it and pausing the action. When Jonathan was truly attacked (like, they tied him to the bed!) she let loose this scream!

- Dracula was a very shadowy figure for a long time, and his first real stage time with his back to the audience, dressed in what we later realise is Jonathan's clothes, observing the Captain's dead body, and introducing himself as Jonathan Harker.

- Dracula's specific creepiness towards Jonathan is way more in stealing his identity. He lurked behind him copying his actions like mimicking shaving, and would copy his voice and turns of phrases (even being dubbed over sometimes!)

- Because we meet Dracula with the cape and in dramatic attack mode it gets a little close to campy, but then the flashback to Old Man at the castle (with some amazing physicality, well done sir) made him so creepy.

- Dracula commanded people more physically, a hand curling from off stage so they take off their garlic flowers, or psychically attacking Jonathan so he bent all the way over towards him like pulling an answer from his mind.

- They turned the digging in the castle into an extra horror - a soundscape of digging as this repetitive jolt to the senses.

- Jonathan's actor was a short king, and she was taller and with broad shoulders. Gorgeous couple.

- I have never been to a theatre production of a horror before. It's intense. Lots of full bodied screaming and sincerity in the acting.

- Renfield was fantastic and a bit meta with his madness. He opened with a cute little monologue about Bram Stoker, his Creator who gave him eternal life by telling the story 🥹

- Brutality of the attacks was way amped up in a way that works well for a stage. Like being grabbed and thrown around and pinned on beds and screaming, then Dracula telling her "You will remember nothing but the moonlight and the howling'.

- Jonathan gave Mina a transfusion and while they were still hooked up, Dracula attacked and kept Jonathan psychically pinned on his back to the floor with his back arched. Kudos to the actor. AND THEN he grabbed the transfusion tube and drained her that way and she screamed and it was awful.

- Mins got a lot of her smart moments like asking to be hypnotized and the information sharing. Yay good characterisation!

- There was a little bit of one sided Dracula/Mina romance, but it was played for horror, and when at the end Dracula bids her in Vamp form come and kiss him, she somehow smuggled a communion wafer from the ring around them and puts it in her mouth and burns him.

Anyway, I'm so glad to have local theatres and babysitters, support them both!

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Should have posted this yesterday, but I do find it slightly amusing that Mina basically spends a whole day just sitting in a circle

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6 November - It's finally over 🌅

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (i would say new readers beware, it has spoilers for the book but well... we are at the end already)

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Not now, dracula

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5 November - Dracula's roommates make a reappearance (to welcome a fourth) ❄️

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)

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Reblog for a miracle to happen tonight

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You doing ok?

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ironic right wing shit will erode your mind without fail. I don't touch that shit

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I forgot to post it here