A new «Dracula» at the theater

Le Regard Libre N° 31 - Jonas Follonier

Dracula: a character best known for his various appearances on the big screen. This time, however, the famous vampire takes the stage—a first. Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel *Dracula* has been reimagined by director Stéphane Albelda, well known for his talent in Valais and beyond.

The result is breathtaking. The Nova Malacuria troupe has indeed achieved the goals this cultural institution has set for itself for more than thirty years: to bring together the various performing arts. But above all, this production exists at the intersection of genres.

Ranging from the coldest tears to the most heartfelt laughter, audiences can experience a total theatrical experience under the moonlight in the gardens of the Collège des Creusets in Sion through September 2, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. Carried by the powerful music composed by Baptiste Mayoraz and performed live, the actors—most of whom are young—deliver a subtle, realistic, and tragic performance. We sat down with one of them, Thibault Hugentobler.

Jonas Follonier: Is this the first time you've performed with the Nova Malacuria troupe?

Thibault Hugentobler: I had already performed with this troupe in the play William Tell, two years ago. Stéphane Albelda was an assistant director at the time. Baptiste Mayoraz and Rachel Morend were also already part of the project.

Dracula has always been a very modern character. Making him «different» in a modern way—that’s the challenge of this play. Do you think it succeeds in that challenge?

I think the production’s goals were largely achieved. The desire to steer clear of anything gory has been sublimely achieved. Stéphane Albelda wanted to make Dracula a rebellious character and for the audience to see that rebellion, rather than have it hidden beneath superficial layers. The moment when the actor Stéphane Liard steps to the front of the stage and declares to God that he renounces Him—that must not be merely a line, but an act of detachment.

Why is this character interesting in our time?

The play can be viewed as a series of duets. Dracula does not necessarily refer to immortality, but rather to that fascination with—and fear of—the other. When Professor Van Helsing (played by Hadrien Praz) tells Dracula that he is the monster, Dracula replies: «You will kill the monster, but will you kill the evil?» Of course not. Dracula is otherness itself: we both want to possess him and, since he terrifies us, to destroy him.

You play the role of Renfield, a very interesting mentally unstable character. What were the challenges of portraying him?

It took me a year to find my character, to nourish him with influences, reflections, and technical work, with the help of Stéphane Albelda and Stéphane Liard. The hardest part was how I viewed my own acting. I had to work hard to get back to simple emotions, free from intellectualism. Then, while rehearsing one Saturday in July, I realized what my Renfield had to be: a man of extreme lucidity, not a madman screaming on stage one summer evening. That’s when the text really hit home, with its layers of meaning between what Renfield says and what Seward says about Renfield.

Now let's move on to your all-time favorites in theater. Who are your favorite playwrights?

Wajdi Mouawad, who writes exceptional plays, and Vincent Macaigne, a French actor, stage director, and filmmaker whom I discovered fairly recently. He is an author whose works, notably Craving, keep us thinking for weeks and weeks after we've seen them.

Thank you for your responses.

Thibault Hugentobler is a student of art history and political science at the University of Lausanne. He began acting in 2013 with the theater troupe at the Lycée-Collège des Creusets in Sion, and thus first performed in The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht.

Nova Malacuria is a cultural institution in Sion whose mission is to serve as a platform for exchange and creativity at the intersection of the various performing arts. From Farinet (1985) to Dracula (2017), Nova Malacuria is a theater with the atmosphere of an agora that has gradually established itself as a must-see event of the Valais summers.

Photo credit: © Nova Malacuria