{"id":2324,"date":"2021-11-03T15:11:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T15:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.edgehill.ac.uk\/ehu19\/?p=2324"},"modified":"2023-11-29T15:49:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T15:49:18","slug":"students-explore-afterlife-of-dracula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.edgehill.ac.uk\/ehu19\/2021\/11\/03\/students-explore-afterlife-of-dracula\/","title":{"rendered":"Year 2 students explore the long afterlife of Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Year 2 students Abbie Hope and Katherine Duffy explore the long afterlife of Dracula, what the vampire means for culture today, and some of the events coming up at Edge Hill as we head into the 125th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary year of Bram Stoker\u2019s novel.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This October, Liverpool\u2019s Playhouse Theatre hosted five nights of Imitating the Dog\u2019s innovative new production of Dracula: The Untold Story<\/em>. Riana Duce plays Mina Harker and tells us that the play \u2013 which is set 70 years after Dracula\u2019s demise \u2013 is a recollection of \u2018the events that have led her [Mina] to hand herself into a police station in 1965.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even to the most dedicated drama enthusiasts, Dracula: The Untold Story<\/em> would be an extraordinary encounter with the surrealist escapism of theatre. The play uses a combination of live-acting and technology to bring new life to Stoker\u2019s characters through the medium of the graphic novel. For us as unseasoned theatre-goers but avid Dracula<\/em> fans, the production was as magnificent and groundbreaking as we had hoped. Using only three actors, three cameras, and a variety of props, Imitating the Dog manages to create a visual masterpiece that celebrates and expands upon the legacy that Stoker created with Dracula<\/em> as well as the long tradition of cinematic reworkings of Stoker\u2019s Count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Production
Production photograph by Ed Waring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>In addition to the technical aspects of the play, the importance of\u00a0Dracula: The Untold Story<\/em>\u00a0focusing on Mina Harker should not be lost on audiences. This Mina is an empowered and resourceful but lost woman who is struggling with the grief and loss of the immortality that had once been granted to her by Dracula. Duce describes this incarnation of Mina as a presentation of \u2018a \u201cNew Woman\u201d in action beyond the constraints of the 19th century\u2019 and the production as a \u2018refreshingly female-led modern take on the story\u2019 that would have previously been rejected by Victorian audiences. As seen with previous adaptations, Mina\u2019s intellect is often stripped away and replaced with a sexuality that appeals to the male gaze; she is often presented as either a seductive reincarnation of Dracula\u2019s deceased wife or his lover. Subsequently, Imitating the Dog\u2019s portrayal of Mina is appealing because it returns to aspects of Stoker\u2019s original, savvy heroine \u00a0\u2013 she is no longer a sexual device for Dracula but instead a \u2018powerful, passionate, well-intentioned woman, who is also deeply misguided and flawed\u2019 (Duce).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fang-tastic Legacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Imitating the Dog\u2019s production is just one of thousands of theatrical, novelistic and cinematic adaptations of Stoker\u2019s vampire with many more likely to follow as we head into the 125th<\/sup> anniversary year of Dracula<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the vampire? We asked a group of Edge Hill\u2019s Literature and Creative Writing students this question, with many of them referencing descriptions of Dracula\u2019s physicality: \u2018tall old man\u2019, \u2018long black capes\u2019, \u2018long nails\u2019 and \u2018fangs\u2019. Evidently, the figure of the vampire is still synonymous with Dracula, which speaks volumes about Stoker\u2019s legacy considering the popularity of the vampire literary genre in the 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stoker used his vampire to symbolise Victorian fears of urbanisation, medical advancements and even threats to the British Empire. But what does the figure of the vampire represent today? Asking the same group of students about modern vampires, we found that unsurprisingly, many thought of the \u2018sparkly\u2019 vampires in Stephanie Meyer\u2019s Twilight<\/em>, as well as Buffy The Vampire Slayer<\/em>, BBC\u2019s Dracula,<\/em> and Anne Rice\u2019s Interview with a Vampire<\/em>. Alongside these were ideas of isolation, lust, and fear of death, all motifs present in Stoker\u2019s original work. The representation of these anxieties have carried through to modern day adaptations, highlighting our ongoing need for the vampire figure as a cultural figure to fear, and ultimately overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrating the 125th anniversary of Dracula<\/em> at Edge Hill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Flyer<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This year Edge Hill University and\u00a0EHU19 Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies<\/a>\u00a0will be exploring the legacies of Stoker\u2019s novel in a series of exciting events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n