IB newsletter

Dracula and the Eco Warrior at Salme Kultuurikeskus

05.12.2016

On a very snowy 10th of November Pre-IB and DP1 went to see a play together with other Audentes students. The play took place at Salme Kultuurikeskus. The name of the play was “Dracula and the Eco Warrior” and it was performed by the American Drama Group Europe.

The play tells the famous “Dracula” story in a modern form and raises a question “Is humanity itself a multi-headed vampire who sucks life out of the earth and leaves nothing but dust?” Jonathan Harker, a lawyer, is being sent to the USA to negotiate a property deal on behalf of Ecotown. Ecotown is a model community that is built on renewable energy, local democracy and respect for the environment in all areas of its daily life.  He is stranded in an American airport. At last he finds a drunken car driver who will take him to Pennsylvania for serious money. He journeys in the smashed up automobile through an urban nightmare, a landscape ruined by heavy industrial pollution, ravaged by unemployment and urban decay. At the castle, the lawyer becomes a prisoner because Dracula draws the blood from him at night. After two weeks Mina (Jonathan’s wife) is getting really worried about her husband, while Lucy (Jonathan’s boss) think he has sealed another deal with him. Then storm rises and Mina runs to help the captain as she is a doctor, ends up knocked out by Dracula and is hospitalized. After the incident she is very unsure and tells that to Lucy also, but Lucy doesn’t believe her and leaves Mina to visit Dracula. They work on the deal, he tempts her with his money and power, she with her vision and idealism. They realize they have much in common. That night there are two parallel stalkings: Harker breaks into the hospital and Dracula breaks into Lucy’s house. Mina understands that her husband is mad and Lucy gets bitten by Dracula. Mina insists to visit Dracula and Lucy doesn’t talk about their visit. To Mina’s horror she sees that Dracula is sitting in the shadows whilst it is Jonathan Harker who is speaking to the crowd of citizens. Harker is giving a speech denying that climate change exists or is caused by humans. After that Mina starts looking into vampires’ topics and meets with Van Helsing in the “Second World”. Mina learns how to defeat a vampire. Also Lucy gets killed by Dracula, but Dracula needs Mina more. At Lucy’s funeral Dracula starts tempting Mina. Mina succeeds in killing Dracula using the sun light. Mina takes the ash to pour into the sea, to recycle the Vampire and
Harker is there, restored to sanity by the death of his Master.

The group had a very characteristic style: fast, physical theatre, music and singing combined with intelligent humor. This performance is mainly suitable for older English students, but even younger one understood mostly what was happening. It was a refreshening afternoon, sometimes it’s good to get away from school.

Elisabeth Alla
Student