By: Emily Papleux
The North Springs Theatre Department, after being dormant, celebrates the fall season with a spook-tacular “Frankenstein” throughout the week of Halloween. Though there were a few severe disputes between the cast before, during and after the making, the overall surface of the show seemed to run as smoothly as high school productions go, and the overall production ran in its perfectly eerie form in all its theatrical glory.
Moira Poh as Frankenstein, and Joe Dean as Frankenstein’s Monster was undoubtedly perfect casting. The characters embodied produced just the right amount of creepiness. Katie Griffin as Elizabeth–wearing the most flattering hand-sewn dress North Springs has ever seen–is created as a sort of comfort for Victor Frankenstein, and I can whole-heartedly say that the emotion of gthe play was also shared with the audience (something that is challenging to achieve, especially for a high school production).
The play could have been tainted by the rumors of individuals trying to phase other peers out of upcoming musicals/productions, and back-talking classmate, thus tainting it by means of shattering the paradise that is fiction. The theatre department has made it clear that they are not always an easy group to get along with; however and happily, during the performances, little of this was shown.
The frequent transitions between past and present may have been a bit choppy and hard to have comprehended at first–filtered by a thrilling transition of blue lights and horror music, but then the show started flowing more smoothly and the audience starts to get used to it. The twisted romances and shocking sub-plots made the play extrenely exciting, and having the audience dress up in their Halloween costumes made the whole production much more inclusive and fun to enjoy. Overall, the North Springs theater drepartment’s take on Mary Shelley’s classic proved to be an abridged by faithful translation of the play, and a great way to kick off a return to the North Springs live theater after so long.
How approprote that era of virtual learning and quaratinining of students caused by the Coronavirus, which has been subbed in some media as a “Frankenstein virus,” has been thwarted by the dark thrills and spirit of this haunting production.
Photo Source: Michelle Griffin
