MEDIA RELEASE: 17 February 2023 – R0016
The undead will make their debut next month in downtown St. Catharines.
Moira Buffini’s A Vampire Story, the mainstage production from Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts, opens at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre Friday, March 3.
Directed by Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts Gyllian Raby with Assistant Director Lucas Irving, the play combines the ridiculous and sublime to tell the tale of a conflicted vampire who yearns to be human.
The show follows Ella, a vampire who is new to a small town that has been plagued by disappearing high school students and teachers.
Seeking to become more human, she decides to stop drinking blood and to be honest about her undead state, her vampire mother and her horrific past.
But Ella’s honesty isn’t well received by the community. Her life is upended as she is ostracized and hunted — all while falling in love and sorting out her priorities in a small town where the residents are as bizarre and insatiable as vampires.
Raby has an affinity for intelligent, culturally astute comedy. Her productions of Shaw’s Passion, Poison and Petrifaction, the jazz/tap musical Fingers and Toes, Nicolai Erdman’s Russian farce The Suicide! and the international Clown show hit Don’t Do It – Do It have been acclaimed by audiences in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Thailand.
“A Vampire Story is broad and bold,” says Raby, “and not for the faint of heart.”
The mainstage production includes set design by Nigel Scott, costume design by Alexa Fraser and lighting design by Chris Malkowski, with music direction and live band leadership by Joe Lapinski. A Vampire Story showcases the talents of Brock Dramatic Arts students Hayley King, Simone Cinapri, Maiya Irwin, Thea Van Loon, Alex De Cicco, Cal Webb Wilkinson, Hunter Brown, Nathan Faigundo, Emma van Barneveld, Tyra Hayward, Celine Zamidar, Michelle Shortt, Benoit St. Aubain, Kaitlyn Boyer, Isaiah Alton and Zakk Milne.
Tickets for the play are $20 for the general public and $16 for students and seniors. Anyone interested in high school group tickets is asked to contact Brian Cumberland at bcumberland@brocku.ca
For a full schedule of performances or to purchase tickets, visit the Brock University Tickets website.
A media preview day will take place Thursday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre. Images and assets from this performance will be available by emailing Charles Kim, Marketing and Communications Officer at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, at ckim2@brocku.ca
Additional information about the production and the Department of Dramatic Arts can be found on the department’s website.
For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
* Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209
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