Members of the audience leaped to their feet to applaud and cheer the performance of “Frankenstein” when it ended Friday night at Meridian High School.
What a show it was! A horror story within a horror story, infused with murders and mayhem as told in the semi-fictional tale about Mary Shelley who, at age 18 in 1816, began writing her frightening tale of Victor Frankenstein’s creation of a monster.
Abby Berg amazingly plays the dual roles of Shelley who magically transitions into the monster in the play, crawling on all fours and screaming often in anguish when she’s an actor within her own story. Her intensity and drama were powerful.
Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (Samantha Grooms) was a philosopher and women’s rights advocate in real life, who opened the play with a visit to her daughter’s home where there was a party underway downstairs, hosted by Mary Shelley’s husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Dante De Sio).
While his wife mourned the death of their infant daughter upstairs, Perry enjoyed himself, surrounded by many women (the “partiers”) who made snide remarks about his absent wife.
Mary is beside herself, screaming her agony and resistance to her mother and husband.
It turns out that her mother is actually a ghost who inhabits her daughter’s mind, encouraging her to keep writing her masterpiece. Later, it’s revealed the party is another fiction in Mary Shelley’s mind.
In truth, “Frankenstein” was first published anonymously in 1818 without an author’s name since women writers then were scorned. The second edition came out in 1821 in Paris with the addition of Mary Shelley’s name.
As director/producer (and all things theatrical at Meridian), Shawn Northrip writes in program notes that he spent years searching for works to utilize the many talents of the females in Meridian’s theater program, something for female actors besides “just love” roles.
He found it in Danielle Mohlman’s version of “Frankenstein” which Meridian presented. It met the goals!
The stars portrayed their characters with intensity and deep feelings, rooted in the story.
On a skeleton scaffolding which stretched almost to the ceiling the monster climbed and crawled her way to unbeknownst victims, all the while stealthily making moves to spread grief and unhappiness. “I exist only to cause pain,” it says. A special filter which created haunting depth amplified the monster’s voice two or threefold.
Northrip’s directing led to phenomenal performances. There was not one disappointment by any of the many actors.
Spectacular showmanship by Hugo Ratheau who appears as Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, must be singled out for his passion, appearing to become a monster himself, bending and swaying from one side of the stage to the other, forcefully spewing his words.
His sidekick, Henry Clerval (Alex Fulgham) handled his role with confidence.
In a beige tutu, Olivia Pierre added needed grace to the production with periodic brief ballets. A different dance had Ms. Berg as the monster and Madame DeLacey (Izzy Baskins) performing in a threesome with a door, which the humans weave up and down, unseen by each other. (Daria Butler was choreographer.)
Everyone was dressed in black, greys and slivers of white (costuming by Meridian student Sophie O’Hara) whose silhouettes against mostly pale backdrops heightened the eerie environment which (with Meridian student Naomi Lewis’s lighting) contributed to the overall mood of danger and anxiety. (This show was recommended for mature teens on up.)
Sometimes pastel colors lightened the visuals with large floor to ceiling impressionistic paintings, backdrops of scenes ranging from a cemetery to an elegant mansion and Swiss mountain range (Mary Shelley began conceiving her tale in Geneva) and more. These opposites contrasted beautifully with the somber dark shades and actors’ silhouettes.
Other actors were Alexis West, Ben Kline, Abigail Fred, Jack Disantis, Julia Wolf, Carmen Ortiz and Augie Reitmeyer.
Adding much enjoyment and visuals in typical “crowd behavior” were “partiers,” Aggie Linforth, Aila Balsano, Annika Wolf, Devin Cook and Eliana Pizzirusso.
Also Eudora Neal, Jack Kreul, JP Tysse, Katarina Villasmil, Lauren Lewin, Luis Gabriel de Carvalho Bastos and Mia Schatz with more partiers, Rayne Hammerschmidt, Sebastian Robertson, Stephanie Hastings and Will Albaugh.
Sound operators Ashe Stoner, Tyler Jones and Jocelynn Johnson were busy all night with the wind and bats, the throbbing of a heartbeat, thunder, and more designed by (applause!) Carlos Ortiz who also composed the music, all students.
Other production team members included Meridian students Bella Villano, Emily Marrow and Millie Beaudry, stage managers; Sean Cunniffe, projections designer; Colleen Carpenter, props designer; Ben Barwig and Carson Ramey, video and film; Paxton Hebblethwaite and Tabby Hermann, makeup.
Jamie Sample directed technicals on this night to remember.
