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upcoming projects

in development: Dracula (Annotated)

Join us this fall in Los Angeles, Montreal, and Toronto for our first Dracula (Annotated) in-process presentations!
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IN-PROCESS PRESENTATIONS

We're looking forward to presenting a series of three readings of selections from the still-in-development Dracula (Annotated) – come be a part of our development process! Each event will consist of approximately 75 minutes from the in-process work and will be followed by a discussion with the audience.

LOS ANGELES, CA

WHEN: Saturday, October 19, 2024, 7 PM

WHERE: The Philosophical Research Society (PRS)

TICKETS: $17.85 (inclusive of fees)

MONTREAL, QC

WHEN: Saturday, November 16, 2024, 7 PM

WHERE: the Museum of Jewish Montreal

TICKETS: Ticketing information coming soon.

This presentation is part of our residency in Montreal.​​

TORONTO, ON

WHEN: Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 7 PM

WHERE: Toronto Holocaust Museum

TICKETS: $12 (Canadian)

This presentation is part of our residency in Toronto.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

How do long-held prejudicial beliefs show up in a popular novel from England written at the turn of the 20th century, and in what ways do those beliefs still operate today? To what extent can perceptions of antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia be deemed as accurate and true, and how much is in the eye of the beholder?


In our next project, we investigate Bram Stoker’s Dracula, weaving together our unique blend of historical investigation and heightened theatricality to create a new work from the core of the novel. This is the second in a series of “Annotated” productions in which we explode and explore classic or well-known and culturally influential works to disrupt more familiar or comfortable ways of engaging with them.

Premiering in Los Angeles, September 2025.

THE TEAM

Writer/Director: Aaron Henne

Development cohort: Erith Jaffe-Berg, Leslie K. Gray, Edgar Landa, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Julie A. Lockhart, Flori Schutzer, Diana Tanaka, Jonathan C.K. Williams

Actors:

Edgar Landa

Adam Lebowitz-Lockard

Julie A. Lockhart

Diana Tanaka

Jonathan C.K. Williams

Swings:

Kēhau Gabriel

Samuel Marcus

Composer: Matthew Brown

Lighting designer: Brandon Baruch

Costume designer: Kathryn Poppen

Consulting Scholar: Carol Margaret Davison, PhD

Contributing Scholar: Erith Jaffe-Berg, PhD

Assistant Director: Jacob Surovsky

The team for Dracula (Annotated) will evolve as development continues and production needs are identified.

dracula annotated in process
our development process

our process

So...how do we create a new work?

Each theatre dybbuk work is conceived by Artistic Director Aaron Henne and created with the ensemble. The process begins with internal research and then takes up to three years from the first group meeting to opening night.

our development process - research
our development process - script development

In the first phase of the process, we have around a dozen script development meetings with the writer/director, dramaturg, composer, actors, designers, and a scholar.

We also have regular physical development sessions – meeting two to three times a month – with the actors, writer/director, choreographer, and other leaders of stylized performance, such as a mask and puppet designer.

our development process - physical development
our development process - workshop

As the script development concludes, a brief workshop phase begins where we experiment with choreography, music, and other show-specific performance elements such as shadow work, mask work, and puppetry. We also refine the script.

In the final four weeks leading up to opening night, we take what we learned during the workshop period and "set" the script, music, and various staging elements. While the script and staging may continue to change up until opening night, this final stage is a process of refining all that we have created up until then.

our development process - rehearsal
our development process - opening
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