Presented by Big Live

Directed/ Choreographed by Joel Burke

Review by Hunter King

The Festival Theatre

Big Live’s Dracula has made its way to the Festival Theatre and promises to be “ballet at its darkest.” While director and choreographer Joel Burke does fulfill that promise, mostly through a distinct lack of lighting, the show itself also labels itself as “unapologetically bold” in the programme, which may give them a bit too much credit. 

This adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic examines a very small section of the novel that it is based on, looking only at the relationship between Vlad/ Count Dracula (Ervin Zagidullan) and Mina, (Abbey Hansen), as well as her husband, Jonathan Harker who is not credited in the programme. After Vlad survives a brutal battle and learns about the death of his love, he recites an incantation to become Count Dracula. A few centuries later, he lures the newlywed Harkers to his castle, seeing Mina as a reflection of his late wife. 

While entering the auditorium I held a lot of hope for the show, really enjoying the eerie pre-show music, but from the time the curtain rose it was clear that this production was going to have some fairly serious flaws; perhaps the biggest being the use of pre-recorded and well recognized classical music. In one way, the use of music like “Danse Macabre” and “Clair de Lune” might make the show accessible for those who are less versed in classical music, but using pre-recorded tracks of these well known songs instead felt lazy, as if the production couldn’t put the resources together for either live music or original music. This naturally was a problematic element that impacted the full show, as the entire story was told through dance (it is a ballet after all). In a story with no dialogue, audiences are less forgiving with the music, and the music of this production was perhaps one of the weakest links of the show.

One of the stronger elements of the show was its set and costume designs by Martin Thomas (set), Sophia Drakos (costume), Fiona Holley (costume), Jennifer Burke (costume), and Alisha Biddles (costume). Despite some of the pieces not looking quite period accurate, the costumes suitably evoked the feelings that they were meant to, especially those worn by the ghosts. Thomas’ set was gorgeous, especially for the sequences that took place within the castle, with a large stained glass window being the centrepiece. Admittedly, the window did a lot of the work to create the gothic environment, while other set elements that were visually stunning were less acknowledged, such as the shrine to Dracula’s late wife which was never really lit and fell into the background despite its importance.

Perhaps the most inconsistent technical piece of the show came from its lighting design. Steven May’s design left a lot to be desired, despite some aspects of the performance being very well done (particularly the window, once again), others were confusing and seemingly out of place. Spiraling shapes across the stage felt very ethereal, where other moments were meant to be entirely diegetic. Often these ideas overtook each other leaving room for confusion and a constant state of wondering if things were actually happening or not. Certain design elements themselves, like the rays of sunlight hitting the vampires were done exceptionally well, but then immediately scrapped despite the setting not changing at all, or any indication that the sun would be going away from cloud coverage or a sunset.

The choreography overall was mostly precise and well performed, but seemed to lack a bravado that is needed in a Dracula adaptation. Some scenes had moments that worked really well, particularly the scenes with the ghosts of Dracula’s castle. Their synchronicity was consistent and impressive, especially while managing to perfect the jerky ghost movements with the precision of dancing on point. The leads were also overall impressive in their moves, despite clearly being told to do specific moves at a muted level that the ghosts would then do with full energy. This may have been an attempt to ground the leads in the story, but often gave the appearance that they were just less enthusiastic (something we know to be untrue from their solo choreography).

Zagidullan brought a strength to the role of Dracula that made for a performance that was at least visually pleasing. Seeing the prince of darkness take on an entire army in the beginning showed his power even before the incantation that turned him into his vampiric form. This sequence (despite being a bit slow on the swordplay) was one of the more interesting moments of the show, but left a lot to be desired as the choreography never allowed Dracula to have that sense of absolute power again.

The absolute highlight of the performance was Abbey Hansen as Mina. She brought a lively vigor to the character, and struck a balance between being a strong dancer as well as a visual storyteller. Hansen clearly grasped that she was not just performing a ballet, but embodying a character, which came through in her performance clearly. She was able to balance moments of comedy (like hiding under the covers from the ghosts) with moments that felt quite tragic.

Easily the strongest sequence of the night was “The Resemblance,” underscored by “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” This scene had not only the strongest emotion delivered by Hansen and Zagidullan, but also the most impressive choreography of the night.  This scene alone proved the capability of this group and that with some more polish and a reconsideration of specific show elements they could have something genuinely excellent with this show.

Unfortunately certain scenes felt repetitive, which was something that shouldn’t happen when the company had the opportunity to adapt all of Stoker’s novel, but instead focused on an extremely small aspect of the story. In this adaptation there was no Demeter, no Van Helsing, no Renfield or Lucy, and no hope for Mina. I am no purist when it comes to adaptation, but when you abandon source material and end up with a lack of material, that becomes a problem in the adaptation. 

This adaptation of Dracula has the possibility of being something very interesting and as a concept for a ballet worked exceptionally well, but the execution has massive room for growth. Perhaps a little bit more time and development would make for a satisfying night at the ballet, but as for now, it was not quite a show I could sink my teeth into.

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