With the arrival of the spooky season that is October and November, Plainfield South’s Fall Play is putting on a performance of Mary Shelley’s renowned novel, Frankenstein. The novel follows Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates an artificial man from pieces of corpses and ends up bringing his creature to life. Things escalate when said creature becomes hostile, and things take a turn for the worst.
“I love Frankenstein; I love all old English literature,” play director Susan Kamrowski said. “Frankenstein definitely is one of my top ones. I think it has to do with a little bit of horror, a little bit to do with humanity.”
This year’s play genre is drama, unlike the previous years where they have mostly been comedies. The last time the school performed a drama-based play was in 2015 when they performed Dracula. Part of this is because directors look to see what’s available and of interest to students. The main cast consists of Nathan Gornick, who plays Victor Frankenstein; Megan Beintum, who plays Elizabeth Lavenza; and Zachary Maranowicz who plays the creature.
“The real Frankenstein is actually quite a scary story,” assistant fall play director Megan Mijka said. “This is actually heavier in male roles, and we want to get more guys involved in theater, so that’s why we picked it.”
There did need to be some name changes in roles, mainly for the male parts, which had to be given to some of the actresses. This is due to the fact that when looking at old English, the majority of the stories and parts are for men.
In regards to the costumes for the play, the school uses a company out of Chicago called Broadway Costumes that has been in business since 1952. The process of planning costumes involves discussing setting, time period, and anything of relevance to the play picked. From there it’s all about adjusting accordingly. Frankenstein is set in the 1800s, so it is set in a very Georgian, and Edwardian time setting.
Rehearsals run from 2:20 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., but as performance dates get closer, they get longer. Two weeks prior to the show, they run running later, every single day, especially when the tech and costume element is brought in. At the current moment, cast members and directors have Fridays off.
“I am most looking forward to bonding with the cast more and upholding some of the traditions we have,” senior Ranjani Sundar said. “I love the little community we make during this time and I love the cast for this year so much. I can’t wait for everyone to see this show.”
Since there will be no advance sales of tickets, they will have to be purchased at the door on the day of the performance. Only cash will be accepted. The performances will be November 10-12:7:00 p.m for the 10 and 11 and a matinee will be performed at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 12.
Stage crew also plays a huge role in designing the props and bringing to life the story of Frankenstein.
“I’m really looking forward to working on all the different set designs and how much effort we are putting into it,” junior and stage crew member Liliana Santiago said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing everything come alive on stage.”
