Autumn has arrived. Burnt orange leaves begin to carpet the ground and dark grey clouds seem to linger forever. Heavy rains and howling winds make Victoria the perfect backdrop for harrowing tales, particularly those of the vampire variety. This autumn is no exception, as next week boasts the third year of Giggling Iguana and Launch Pad Productions’ Dracula: the Blood is the Life at Craigdarroch Castle.
Featuring the characters originally made famous in Bram Stoker’s gothic novel, the production reopens Count Dracula’s tomb and retells the chilling tale of the notorious Transylvanian bloodsucker. Dracula follows Professor Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Mina Harker as they, along with the audience, work to uncover the mysteries surrounding Count Dracula’s existence.
For the past 13 years, Ian Case has been directing and producing Halloween shows at the castle. Alongside scriptwriters David Radford and Christina Patterson (Dracula and Harker, respectively), Case reworked the script to make this year’s production the most frightening and engrossing yet.
“There are one or two moments every time we do a show at the Castle that ramp up the emotional content and make the audience jump or even scream. I like those things that linger in the dark and jump out at us,” says Case, with a laugh, “and I’m looking forward to seeing the audience react to those moments that raise the stakes, so to speak.”
By setting the performance in the exquisite Craigdarroch Castle, Case is certainly raising the stakes. It’s allowing the audience to experience not just a dramatic performance of a classic literary piece, but also an intimate guided tour through a celebrated historic landmark.
“This is a unique way for the audience to be introduced to the castle,” says Case. “It’s open during the day, but how many people get to go there in the evening? How many people get this private tour? The audience can experience the castle in a way that they normally wouldn’t. And because it has this real Victorian grandeur, big creaking stairwells, wind whistling through the windows, it becomes a living space. It’s as much a character in the play as the actors and the audience themselves.”
Unlike productions where the audience is simply responsible for observing, applauding, and occasionally shrieking, Dracula invites the audience to assist Professor Van Helsing and Dr. Seward as they aim to find the root of Dracula’s roaming spirit. Similar to how Stoker’s original story traverses the globe (from London to Transylvania and back again) the production navigates the castle. And reliving the story of Dracula in such circumstances is no easy task.
“We can’t take a gothic novel and turn it into an epic event because the audience can only stand for so long,” says Case. “I want to give the audience the opportunity to say, ‘I want to step through that door and enter this world with you.’”
Dracula
October 23 to October 31
$26, Craigdarroch Castle
thecastle.ca