An Interview with the Director

This is the second time you’ve directed Dracula at the Hippodrome. What attracts you to this story?

I think that I am attracted to myth and folktale. Whether it’s a story like Dracula or Grimm’s Fairy Tales, I love the simplicity of the themes in these stories that have been passed down through the ages. The simplicity of a theme like "good reigns over evil," provides something familiar and enjoyable for audiences to identify with, but it also provides a wide open canvas where we can apply a concept. Everyone comes to the room with a different idea about that story and their impression of its familiar themes. This familiarity of the story and its themes offers a great opportunity for artistic collaboration. It is thrilling for us to watch the audience as they witness the path we took to execute this familiar story.

Is there anything particularly unique about this adaptation and concept for Dracula?

I think the difference between the 1997 Dracula and the one we’re doing now is that this one affords more opportunities for storytelling through visuals, which goes hand-in-hand with that old horror movie genre. There are a lot of things that the audience gets to witness through the use of the actors’ bodies in the space, music and lighting that sets the tone and evokes emotion. It has been great fun to create moments using visual text and sound as a means to provoke the psychological terror that is so embedded in the story. The key in telling a familiar story like this is how we execute it so it not only provides the evocative nature of the original story, but that it also continues to surprise the audience.

Why do you think there has been such a fascination throughout history with this story?

I don’t know exactly why we remain fascinated with such stories. There are obviously certain works of fiction and nonfiction that remain popular with readers throughout time. Certain major historic moments are retold over and over in many mediums (the Titanic, September 11, the Holocaust). Dracula is another story that is continually reinvented. The recent bestseller, The Historian, which traces the history of Vlad Tepes [the real-life ruler in which Bram Stoker based Dracula] has remained very popular among readers. The amount of time that book has been on the bestseller list, proves that the public and the author remain fascinated with the story behind the myth of Dracula.

What has been particularly rewarding or challenging during this process?

Well anytime you put a story of the horror genre or a myth on stage – something that is larger than life -- the challenge for the company is to make bold choices; choices that have to be almost "operatic." This forces the actors outside of the "realistic" process and really allows them to paint a much larger canvas with their acting. It’s always wonderful to watch an actor to come out of their comfort zone and commit to the roles not only physically but also vocally and approach the text from that angle. As they surrender to this style, the story becomes very engaging.