She's gone. Lucy's gone
I'm heartbroken. I spent the last seven months getting to know her, playing around with her, giving her a voice, using her hands and walking and dancing with her dainty little feet. Now it's all over and she's gone away into the ether once more, with that playful smile and a flick of her golden hair.
I will miss you, dear Lucy. It's been nothing but a pleasure. Sorry for making you die so much - it wasn't anything personal.
I am absolutely riddled with severe and enveloping emotions today - grief, joy, gratitude, grief, awe, wonder and grief. Cuddling the cat and crying off last night's stage makeup in bed because I didn't wake up until half one seems to be the only thing to do today.
After "Dracula"s final show last night, I ran into a boy of about eleven in the foyer who had come to see the show. His mum, who recognised the candy floss curls and vamp makeup immediately, said he wanted to talk to me. Well, he stared more than he spoke - the little lad seemed pretty awestruck He told me his name (Reuben) and asked me, after a moment of staring in total disbelief: "Where did you go?"
He was referring to the asra trick - an illusion we mastered for Lucy's tomb scene to imply her soul had been carried up to the heavens and her undead body had disappeared. But for me, this question held so much more meaning.
Where did she go?
To quote Mina from the play:
"Oh, Lucy...come back, it's cold..."
Come back.
Come back.
Please come back.
-------------
Abigail Thorne {Lucy Westenra}
I'm heartbroken. I spent the last seven months getting to know her, playing around with her, giving her a voice, using her hands and walking and dancing with her dainty little feet. Now it's all over and she's gone away into the ether once more, with that playful smile and a flick of her golden hair.
I will miss you, dear Lucy. It's been nothing but a pleasure. Sorry for making you die so much - it wasn't anything personal.
I am absolutely riddled with severe and enveloping emotions today - grief, joy, gratitude, grief, awe, wonder and grief. Cuddling the cat and crying off last night's stage makeup in bed because I didn't wake up until half one seems to be the only thing to do today.
After "Dracula"s final show last night, I ran into a boy of about eleven in the foyer who had come to see the show. His mum, who recognised the candy floss curls and vamp makeup immediately, said he wanted to talk to me. Well, he stared more than he spoke - the little lad seemed pretty awestruck He told me his name (Reuben) and asked me, after a moment of staring in total disbelief: "Where did you go?"
He was referring to the asra trick - an illusion we mastered for Lucy's tomb scene to imply her soul had been carried up to the heavens and her undead body had disappeared. But for me, this question held so much more meaning.
Where did she go?
To quote Mina from the play:
"Oh, Lucy...come back, it's cold..."
Come back.
Come back.
Please come back.
-------------
Abigail Thorne {Lucy Westenra}
---------------------------------------
Dracula
Legends about vampires or blood sucking monsters have existed widely and for centuries across the world but Dracula somehow captured the public imagination. First published 1897 it has never been out of print since. It has become part of our folklore, our collective mythology. Just about everyone knows, or thinks they know, the story of Dracula. Few people now, though, say that they have read it, instead getting their knowledge from films and other media based on the book.
It cannot claim to be a well-written book. There is little character development and there are issues with continuity, but it was generally admired on publication, although some considered it too violent and “not for those who are not strong”.
Possibly its weaknesses are also its strengths allowing the power of the story to be central, (the dead rise from the grave to suck blood from the living and create new vampires), for the characters to become archetypical and for readers to see a plethora of themes and reflections of their own fears.
Dracula was written at a time of extensive social and technological changes which are reflected in the story but, perhaps, the factor in Dracula which most captured the imagination is the transformation of the myth into one of sexual seduction of innocent young women into a world of voluptuous perversion. It was a time when gender roles were being challenged with new technology allowing the possibility of female emancipation and some women looking for greater sexual freedom. Mina and Lucy can be seen as the two sides of the “New Women”, Mina being ambitious and embracing the new technology while Lucy expresses a desire for sexual freedom: “why cannot a woman marry three men if all desire her?”
There was little academic notice until the 1970s, but since then there has been a proliferation of interpretations and reflections on Dracula. It has been interpreted as not just a gripping horror story but possibly reflecting anxieties about class conflict, female emancipation, foreignness / alien invasion, anti-Semitism, sexual perversion, homosexuality, sexual disease, fear of regression to the primitive, the past versus the present / future. It has even been read as a prefigurement of recent epidemics such as Aids, Ebola and Covid.
Dracula
Legends about vampires or blood sucking monsters have existed widely and for centuries across the world but Dracula somehow captured the public imagination. First published 1897 it has never been out of print since. It has become part of our folklore, our collective mythology. Just about everyone knows, or thinks they know, the story of Dracula. Few people now, though, say that they have read it, instead getting their knowledge from films and other media based on the book.
It cannot claim to be a well-written book. There is little character development and there are issues with continuity, but it was generally admired on publication, although some considered it too violent and “not for those who are not strong”.
Possibly its weaknesses are also its strengths allowing the power of the story to be central, (the dead rise from the grave to suck blood from the living and create new vampires), for the characters to become archetypical and for readers to see a plethora of themes and reflections of their own fears.
Dracula was written at a time of extensive social and technological changes which are reflected in the story but, perhaps, the factor in Dracula which most captured the imagination is the transformation of the myth into one of sexual seduction of innocent young women into a world of voluptuous perversion. It was a time when gender roles were being challenged with new technology allowing the possibility of female emancipation and some women looking for greater sexual freedom. Mina and Lucy can be seen as the two sides of the “New Women”, Mina being ambitious and embracing the new technology while Lucy expresses a desire for sexual freedom: “why cannot a woman marry three men if all desire her?”
There was little academic notice until the 1970s, but since then there has been a proliferation of interpretations and reflections on Dracula. It has been interpreted as not just a gripping horror story but possibly reflecting anxieties about class conflict, female emancipation, foreignness / alien invasion, anti-Semitism, sexual perversion, homosexuality, sexual disease, fear of regression to the primitive, the past versus the present / future. It has even been read as a prefigurement of recent epidemics such as Aids, Ebola and Covid.
STOP PRESS. Carabosse Theatre Company receives significant funding from Arts Council England.
Carabosse Theatre Company is delighted to announce that we have been awarded a substantial grant from Arts Council England. A vital recognition of our commitment to artistic excellence and community engagement. This funding will enable us to further enrich our artistic endeavours and expand our impact within the local community. Full press release available here.
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