Halloween isn’t the only night to experience vampires and ghoulish tales in Fort Collins. On October 23, the Lincoln Center presents PUSH Physical Theatre’s Dracula, a classic tale of seduction, desire and madness.
Dubbed “The Masters of Motion Theatre,” PUSH trades their usual dance performance ‘silent treatment’ for a performance that combines their well-known acrobatic movements and stunning lighting effects with powerful dialogue and interactive video and sound.
Darren Stevenson, PUSH’s artistic director who also performs the role of Dracula, calls the work “cinema of the mind.” He goes on to elaborate, “By using the bodies of the other performers we are able to lift and climb and fly with physical manipulation of the body. There are moments where a character appears to be crushing someone or flying in the air but in reality, it’s just movement using vertical space.
“What has always interested me about this work is that the audience often describes something that they saw that they thought we did, but it never really happened,” says Stevenson. “They created it inside their mind.” It’s this blurring of reality that amplifies the appeal of this twisted tale.
However, this is not simply a spooky tale worthy of inducing nightmares, this story is also about love and loss, and the light and darkness that lives in every one of us.
“The terrifying reality is we all have a monster inside us,” says Stevenson. “Humans tend to justify their terrible actions. We thought, why would Dracula be any different?”
As the audience gazes into the darkest corners of humanity, they begin to see the humanness that lies within one of literature’s most famous villains. “We are able to give Dracula a backstory and a life,” says Stevenson. “He is able to speak for himself.” The line between good and who is evil starts to blur as Dracula is given a voice that has never been heard before.
You won’t want to miss this chilling, fast-paced adaptation that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Tickets starting from $15, available at LCtix.com.