Prologue:
Van Helsing prepares his leather doctor’s bag, with equipment.
As he speaks he takes from his bag and ticks off on his list until they are all on the table before him.
Hammer, soldering iron, wafers, holy water, garlic, stakes. Scalpels, lancets, chisel, screwdriver.

‘My friends all, I know that still, even now, there are some amongst you who do not yet believe. But so it was with ……Edison, and Newton, and Galileo. There were always unbelievers. Sceptics. Electricity. The power of the steam engine. Gravity.

(He picks up the crucifix an examines it thoughtfully.)

There are always Mysteries. The Unexplained. How is it that some live, over a hundred years? Why is it that one brother is a psychopath, and this one- a priest?

(He stares directly into the audience.)

Genetics. Nature, red in tooth and claw. Parasites. In the Pampas lands of South America are bats that come at night and suck from the veins of cattle in the fields. And giant bats in the Pacific, that when a ship is anchored off shore from their islands, will gorge themselves on the bodies of the sleeping.

When a stone is dropped in a pool, the ripples spread outwards.

Violin plays.

He exits. The objects are left downstage extreme right.

ACT ONE, SCENE ONE

3 girls, reading letters and sewing on a day bed in England in later years of 19th century

Mina:

Listen to this: ‘crossing the bridge in Buda Pest I felt I was crossing from West to East’.

Lucy:

Oh Mina - I’m sick of hearing those letters from Jonathan. You’ve done nothing but read them over and over since you got them. Come and help me choose what to wear tonight!

Mina:

Not now, Lucy. I can’t get the pictures out of my mind- Jonathan in that terrible, lonely land- a whirlpool of all the darkest superstitions, the war torn country fought over by Attila the Hun, Turks, Vandals-

Lucy:

For goodness sake, let’s talk of something else! Now how about my hair? In ringlets, or ribbons?

Mina:

Lucy how can you rattle on about your dresses and hairstyles when I am worried for Jonathan’s well being? I haven’t heard from him in weeks - in his last letter, when he stayed at that old inn, and the old peasant tried to warn him-

Lucy:

Oh, please, Mina. In this day and age, to believe in ghouls and demons is simply… ridiculous. Old fashioned! Out of date! Oh, but if you’re going to stay in here and mope, I’ll ask Jane here to help me get ready for dinner. I must look my best for my three suitors!

Jane:

You are lucky, Lucy, having three such handsome young men in love with you. Do tell us- which one is going to win your heart?

Lucy:

Oh, my heart belongs to Jonathan of course. (she is saying this to get Mina’s attention) But unfortunately he was engaged to my boring older sister Mina before I was out of the school room, and then it was too late for me.