Mark Bruce Company - Dracula - Tour Autumn 2013

[Jan McNulty]

The Mark Bruce Company is touring a brand new production of Dracula around the South West and in London this Autumn.  The very wonderful Jonathan Goddard is Dracula.

 

The tour dates are:

 

Wed 25 – Sat 28 September, 8pm
Tobacco Factory Theatre (Bristol)
0117 902 0344
www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com
Booking opens soon

 

Tue 1 – Wed 2 October, 7.30pm
Exeter Northcott Theatre
01392 493 493
www.exeternorthcott.co.uk
Click here to book

 

Fri 4 – Sat 5 October
Pavilion Dance South West (Bournemouth)
01202 203 630
www.paviliondance.org.uk
Booking opens soon

 

Wed 9 Oct – Sat 2 Nov, 7.30pm
Wilton’s Music Hall (London)
020 7702 2789
www.wiltons.org.uk
Click here to book

 

Tue 5 – Wed 6 Nov, 8pm
The North Wall (Oxford)
01863 319 450
www.thenorthwall.org
Click here to book

 

Sat 9 – Sun 10 Nov
Merlin Theatre (Frome)
01373 465 949

www.merlintheatre.co.uk
Booking opens soon

 

http://www.markbrucecompany.com/current/

 

[alison]

Well, Wilton's should be marvellously atmospheric for it.

 

What's Mark Bruce been doing in recent years?  He's rather dropped off my radar.

[Jan McNulty]

I would guess he's been concentrating on the South West.

 

There's a long list of "projects":

 

http://www.markbrucecompany.com/past/

[Pas de Quatre]

Yes - saw the company last year in Made in Heaven, a most enjoyable evening.  Looking forward to Dracula!

[Bruce]

I like Mark Bruce - despite the fact that the only time I've been attacked by a shark in the theatre was during one of his shows:

http://dancetabs.com/2012/06/mark-bruce-company-made-in-heaven-london/

[Pas de Quatre]

Ha ha, and if you have ever owned a boat with an outboard engine that starts with a pull-cord, you just know it ain't going to work!

[Ann Williams]

Bruce, haven't laughed as much in ages as I did at your review (above) of 'Made in Heaven' - I can't decided whether it was the 'endless, endless' pulling of the outboard engine cord, or the decapitated nun's head rolling around the stage which I found most hilarious  - whatever, I deeply regret missing this unique dance performance - what an excuse to rifle through You Tube for possible clips. Thank you, Bruce! 

[Jan McNulty]

Here's the official press release:

 

DRACULA

 

 

MARK BRUCE COMPANY new production premieres at  

Bristol Tobacco Factory Theatre September 25^th

www.markbrucecompany.com

 

“Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring.”

(Bram Stoker, ‘Dracula’)

 

 

Mark Bruce Company has built up a formidable reputation for critically acclaimed, uncompromising dance-theatre work which often takes the audience on a roller coaster ride into dark and mysterious territory.  Productions such as Sea of Bones and 2012’s Made In Heaven fascinated and entertained audiences all over the country…”Made in Heaven is a rare dance theatre foray into territory more often explored in film and literature and makes for a truly gripping evening.” (londondance)

 

This year’s new production, ‘DRACULA’, promises to be thrilling, dark and exciting; directed and choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director, Mark Bruce, the company of ten exceptional dancers bring Bram Stoker’s 1897 haunting, erotic tale to life in a heart wrenching, magical dance theatre production.  With an eclectic mix of music from Bach and Mozart to contemporary classical composers György Ligeti (fittingly, born in Transylvania) and Fred Frith, Bruce explores choreographic styles which range from the subtlety of classical etiquette to visceral contemporary dance.

 

One of the UK’s most highly regarded performers, Jonathan Goddard, (“Britain’s finest male contemporary dancer” – Observer) plays the infamous Vampire Count, whose sinister and ruthless ambitions challenge the very fabric of Victorian society.  As Dracula’s victims and opponents rally against him, they are forced to face the darkness and savagery within themselves.

 

September 25^th (preview), September 26th to 28^th  

Bristol, Tobacco Factory Theatre                              www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com            0117 902 0344

  Ticket prices:      September 25^th/preview £11, tickets for September 26^th-28^th £15

 

  October 1^st-2^nd  Exeter, Northcott                            www.exeternorthcott.co.uk                      01392 493 493

  Ticket prices:      £11.50 to £17.50

 

  October 4^th-5^th   Bournemouth, Pavilion Dance   www.paviliondance.org.uk                        01202 203 630

  Ticket prices:      £10 (groups £8/£5), student stand-by tickets: £5, £50 Golden Tickets (10 Thursday Night performances)

 

  October 9^th (preview), October 10^th (press night) to November 2^nd         

London, Wilton’s Music Hall                                     www.wiltons.org.uk                                    020 7702 2789

  Ticket prices:      £25

 

  November 5^th-6^th Oxford, The North Wall             www.thenorthwall.org                               01865 319 450

              Ticket prices:      £13 (concs £11)

 

  November 9^th-10^th   Frome, Merlin Theatre          www.merlintheatre.co.uk                         01373 465 949

  Ticket prices:      £14, £12

 

 

‘Dracula’ lighting by Guy Hoare, design by Phil Eddolls, sound design by Chris Samuels, costumes by Dorothee Brodrück, puppets and masks by Pickled Image, makeup by Jyn San.

 

Performed by:  Cree Barnett Williams, Eleanor Duval, Jonathan Goddard, Nicole Guarino,

Hannah Kidd, Kristin McGuire, Wayne Parsons, Jordi Calpe Serrates, Cris Tandy, Alan Vinvent.

 

‘Dracula’ is presented by Mark Bruce Company in association with Tobacco Factory Theatre, Pavilion Dance and Wilton’s Music Hall

 

“I first read Bram Stoker’s book when I was 9 or 10,” says Mark Bruce.  “It’s a great story but it also has an elusive magic.  I think Dracula opens our imagination and dreams; its flaws, or simple omissions, cause us to put ourselves inside the story.  The fact that it is not a retrospective historical novel also adds to its feeling of authenticity; it’s very much a product of its time, fascinated in what was prevalent in Victorian society such as the emergence of science and its effect on religion; foreign travel; people’s fears and inhibitions; social taboos; the development of women’s roles...and much more.  The story is now so embedded in our minds it is difficult to stand back and look at it objectively, but in attempting to do so, one sees what a strange novel it is. But underneath it all I think it is a story with a human heart.

 

“When we performed Made In Heaven at Wilton’s Music Hall last year I thought – if you don’t do your Dracula here you are aren’t serious about doing it because this is the perfect venue! I also had some of the cast in mind – at the right time in their careers. I felt I had enough knowledge to produce something that didn’t fall into all the inherent traps of doing such a well known story.

 

“Before thinking about Jonathan Goddard playing the role,” continues Mark, “I hadn’t decided if I wanted to use an actor or a dancer. The idea of a ‘dancing’ Dracula is tricky – he doesn’t exactly appear like that in the novel!  But when I worked with Jonathan I found all kinds of possibilities for choreographic vocabulary – he will bring many sides to the role; the hunter – the wolf, the noble and sinister count, the lonely undead, a malevolent humour, a vicious callous streak and a childlike naivety.”

 

Mark Bruce Company productions include Moonlight Drive (1991), Lovesick (1995), Helen, Angel (1996), Horse, BlackBird/RedRose (1998), Dive (1999) and the celebrated collaboration with Polly Jean Harvey and John Parish, At Louse Point (1997). In 2005 Mark made Fever to Tell for Probe, Green Apples for the ROH’s Clore Studio Summer Collection and Bad History for the Place Prize 2006. In September 2006 Sea of Bones premiered at Frome, Somerset’s Merlin Theatre, followed by a UK tour throughout 2007.   Mark created The Sky or a Bird for Probe’s 2008 UK tour and Stars for Dance South West’s Rural Tour 2008. He also co-devised Skellig- an opera based on the book by David Almond – for the Sage Gateshead in 2008. Bruce’s Crimes of Passion, commissioned by Bern Ballet, premiered in January 2010 and the Mark Bruce Company premiered its new full-evening work, Love and War, at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in 2010; Medea, his second commission by Bern Ballet, premiered in February 2011 and his Mark Bruce Company production Made In Heaven toured to excellent critical acclaim and capacity audiences in 2012. 

 

Mark’s theatre work includes Manchester Royal Exchange productions of The Bacchae (premiere November 2010), Antigone, The Glass Menagerie, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Antony & Cleopatra, Peer Gynt, As You Like It, Fast Food, Still Time and The Way of the World. He directed Rick Bland’s Thick for the Edinburgh Fringe and in Canada and New York.  The Mark Bruce Company is Associate Dance Artist of the Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol and an Affiliated Artist of the Merlin Theatre, Frome.   He teaches classes and workshops internationally.