ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (October 10, 2023) The Augustana College Department of Theatre Arts presents “Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy,” October 12-15. The Quad Cities regional premier is directed by Dr Jennifer Popple (below), associate professor of theatre arts and co-chair of the theatre department.

Adapted from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Kate Hamill’s version offers a more contemporary critique of the gender and sexuality norms of Victorian England, relating those norms to issues of today.

Dracula offers a sense of freedom from those norms, but at what cost? What do we do when “the monsters look just like us,” the play asks. Dr Popple said it’s scary, campy, funny and very pertinent to today. 

“It’s a bloody and fun play, but it has sharp teeth in its core message,” she said.

The cast of nine includes alumnus James Wheeler (’21), who plays the titular character. The New York native performed as a student actor at Augustana in “Boy,” “The Three Musketeers,” “The Crucible,” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.”

Tickets can be purchased at Augustana.edu/tickets

Performances will all take place in the Brunner Theatre Center Main Stage Theatre.

Support the River Cities' Reader

Get 12 Reader issues mailed monthly for $48/year.

Old School Subscription for Your Support

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Old School Subscribe now.



Help Keep the Reader Alive and Free Since '93!

 

"We're the River Cities' Reader, and we've kept the Quad Cities' only independently owned newspaper alive and free since 1993.

So please help the Reader keep going with your one-time, monthly, or annual support. With your financial support the Reader can continue providing uncensored, non-scripted, and independent journalism alongside the Quad Cities' area's most comprehensive cultural coverage." - Todd McGreevy, Publisher