Frankenstein the Play
Cheyanne Wilson
“Frankenstein! It’s a classic!” says Ian Wininger about Mascoutah’s 2014 fall play. Mr. Erickson, along with Mr. Eachus and student director Taylor Kelly picked this play based on student recommendations. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is about an 1800’s scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque creature in unorthodox ways. The novel has had many adaptations and movies made from the original.
The cast was picked tentatively based on their acting skills after their schedule was looked over. The main characters are Victor Frankenstein, played by sophomore Ian Wininger, Elizabeth Frankenstein, played by senior Justine Figueroa, the Monster, played by sophomore Will Knowles, and Igor, played by sophomore Tristan Sanchez. All the cast members have been in previous plays for either the middle school or the high school. “The whole cast is great,” says Mr. Erikson. “They really get along and are becoming a big family.”
After looking over several scripts and being unable to obtain copyrights to some of them, they finally chose the one script used for the fall play. “There are big surprises in the second act! That’s all I can really say.” says Tristan Sanchez. The students had some say in the final script that was picked, but overall it came down to the directors.
“There is a lot of work that goes into creating a set and a lot of people don’t see that,” says Courtney Wombacher, the stage manager who has been working with stagecraft all four years of her high school career. The backstage cast is just as important as the on stage cast. Moving sets and rigging the curtains are only some of the tasks at hand.
With Frankenstein being as popular as it is, there is no doubt going to be a great turnout at this years play. “Frankenstein is a tragedy, so we’re trying to make this play timeless, because that’s what tragedies are… Timeless,” says Justine Figueroa, who is putting this play on her college applications, “even while we try to modernize it, we still want it to have that same effect that the original Frankenstein had.”
