Frankenstein
at Saint John Paul The Great Catholic HS

Reviewed on November 18, 2017

Emily Smith
Lake Braddock Secondary
Submitted for publication to Cappies News

The roaring thunder, piercing screams, and flashing lights gracing Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School's stage Saturday night could only mean one thing--Frankenstein's Monster is on the loose. The cast and crew managed to create an elegant and spine-tingling performance, sending shivers down the spines of even the bravest audience members.

Based on Mary Shelley's book of the same name, Frankenstein is the classic cautionary tale of becoming too invested in the idea of creation. This version was adapted by Thomas Olson, and at one point was a nationally-broadcast CBS special. Frankenstein is the story of the brilliant Victor Frankenstein, who becomes obsessed with reviving the dead after his mother's demise. Frankenstein reanimates a stolen corpse, but abandons the creature when he sees his disfigured face. The Creature ventures across the countryside, spreading fear and horror then returns to seek vengeance. The Creature murders Frankenstein's fiancée and best friend before taking its own life.

This chilling horror story was led by the talented Richard von Tersch in the role of Victor Frankenstein. Peering out from behind his horn-rimmed glasses, von Tersch expertly captured the tortured, passionate intellectual at the heart of Dr. Frankenstein. His creature's stunted speech and lurching motions, crafted by Joseph Coyle, complemented this performance. Coyle embodied the unsure monster with every step, grunting and swaying yet compellingly graceful. Frankenstein's fiancée Elizabeth, played by Madison Perry, was another standout performer. Her voice, blissful with kindness and emotion, brought tenderness and love to an otherwise cold story about scientific discovery and madness. Toothpick-wielding, swaggering Ernst, played by George Howard, carried with him a cool and nonchalant air that added to the depth and texture of the play.

The haunting, romantic atmosphere so critical to Frankenstein could not have been created without the marvelous sound design team. The music underscoring the most dramatic scenes, chosen by Andre Morales and Adam Vitkovitsky, raised tension levels to dizzying heights. The team expertly handled the heavy use of voice-over, editing the recordings so delicately that the characters seemed to be speaking directly to the audience. Frankenstein also benefited heavily from the labors of its fantastic props team. Props, designed by Sarah Daly, Elizabeth Hawk, Anjoleigh Schindler, and Jaqueline VonTersch, looked to be nearly professional quality. They included perfectly worn books adorning Victor's shelf, pistols aimed at the Creature, and a guitar.

Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School managed to perfectly encapsulate the aesthetic and mood of this classic romantic story. It was clear that, much unlike Frankenstein's Creature at the heart of the story, this was a labor of love.

Caroline Thompson
Falls Church High School
Submitted for publication to Cappies News 2

Every day we walk the tightrope of life. Some days we teeter and almost lose our balance. Some days we walk triumphantly across. But for every one of us there come that fateful day when the rope snaps. It is said that our souls either transcend to the heavens above or plummet deep down to the depths of hell below. From life to death. That is the way things are meant to be. But things are not always as they are meant to be.

From the mind of the brilliant science fiction author Mary Shelley, comes the tale of a doctor whose life is a rapid succession of things not meant to be. Written in 1817 and published on New Year's Day, 1818, Frankenstein became one the world's first horror novels. From a dream to a book to the stage, Frankenstein has been a beloved classic for centuries. Directed by Mr. Stephen Keane and put on by Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School, this classic was brought to stirring life in their rendition of Frankenstein.

This tale of tragedy and horror was intended to provoke the mind and prickle the hairs on the back of one's neck. This was achieved by the dismal tones that filled the air. The sound team carried the audience from one scene to next capturing the mood flawlessly every time. The gruesome moulage of The Creature seized the imaginations of the audience. The glowing red heart with its sapphire veins and ruby arteries was the perfect touch to the ominous atmosphere.

By no means could the task of understanding the melting pot of emotions felt by The Creature have been an easy one. But Joseph Coyle presented these with much fervor and dedication. From his electrified awakening to his fiery death, Coyle was committed to becoming The Creature. His body language added much to the character and his acting was well thought out and executed. The Creature and his creator, Victor Frankenstein, played by Richard von Tersch, were a dreadful duo, to say the least. Together, the two created a few compelling scenes that snapped the audience right back to their dire reality.

The ill-fated lover of Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza, was played beautifully by the soft-hearted Madison Perry. Consistently, Perry presented Elizabeth as true, pure, and only with good intentions. She carried herself as the sweet yet subtly witty Elizabeth until her doomed wedding day where death in the form of The Creature came knocking at her door. The kind soul of Elizabeth was matched only by that of Justine Moritz played by Sophia Barrick. She too did a wonderful job of conveying the innocent but condemned heart of Justine.

The show would not have been nearly as successful as it was without the magnificent sound crew. Their choice of music was so perfectly on par with the show that it practically conveyed every word and emotion spoken on stage all by itself. The lighting, although a little spotty and strange in color choice at times, was successful in putting the focus on whoever was speaking. The set, albeit lacking in detail, was varying in levels which added depth of the stage.

From death to life and life to death, The Creature walked a most agonizing walk on the tightrope of life. In the end, The Creature and his already dead creator left this world in a blaze of heat and the world was once again as it was meant to be.

Erin Mullins
Lake Braddock Secondary
Submitted for publication to Patch.com

A crack of lightning fills the silent room, followed quickly by the boom of thunder. As fog spills out over the stage, the silhouettes of two men stand facing each other. Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School's performance of Frankenstein begs the answer to the question: who is the monster and who is the man? And what happens when man tries to play God?

Frankenstein, based on the book written by Mary Shelley and adapted by Thomas Olson, tells the tale of a brilliant scientist named Victor Frankenstein. Throughout his entire life, Victor has always shown a desire in discovering the secret of life, and after the untimely death of his mother, his obsession only grows. One fateful night, Victor brings to life a creature made from collected body parts. The Creature proceeds to wreak havoc, and Victor will stop at nothing to reverse the damage. However; every story has two sides, and Victor must come to terms with the role he played in this tragedy.

The cast and crew came together to produce a compelling performance as creepy as the original novel intended. The technical aspects set the mood for the play, and the actors magnified the eerie environment with their stage presence.

Joseph Coyle demanded the audience's attention in his role as The Creature, Frankenstein's creation. Coyle's physicality brought dimensions to the character, and his switch from broken speech, to comprehensible English highlighted his character's development as a being on Earth. His portrayal of the lonely, cast aside monster evoked sympathy from the audience, and caused them to rethink their feelings towards the doctor.

Madison Perry's performance as Elizabeth Lavenza, Frankenstein's childhood friend and love interest, was enthralling. Throughout the performance she utilized both vocal and facial expressions consistently, and her characterization was realistic for the time period. Sophia Barrick, who performed as Justine Moritz, had intense emotion that she delivered with confidence. Particularly in the court scene, when Justine was being charged with murder, Barrick's desperation and pain stood out as notable among the multiple distressed actors.

The sound and lighting designs worked hand in hand seamlessly. The simultaneous thunder and flickering lights enhanced the performance by adding tension to the scenes, specifically during The Creature's birth scene. The use of voice-overs, created by Tina Bow, during the scene changes was creative and not only provided context, but also covered the shifting periods. The scarring on The Creature's face was made of latex and was full of detail, accentuating the grotesque appearance of the monster. Overall the crew provided intricate work that was convincing in relation to both the time period and the characters.

Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School's performance was thought provoking and intriguing. The cast and crew worked zealously, and produced an impressive interpretation of a man's slippery slope into grief and madness.

Charis Conwell
West Potomac High School
Submitted for publication to InsideNoVa-Sun Gazette

A doctor, brilliant and unstable, driven to desperation by the loss of his mother, trembles as he realizes what he has created. Outside of the window thunder cracks, and trees bend under the force of the wind. On a narrow table, something like a man is stirring under a blood-stained sheet. The doctor trembles with fear.

"It lives!"

In St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School's production of Frankenstein, knock-out technical design pairs with excellent acting to create an audience experience that is is as cerebrally provocative as it is chilling.

St. John Paul's sound team has brilliantly utilized their medium create a believable and unsettling air to the production. The use of ambient music and sound effects help create and maintain urgency through the play's many flashbacks and location changes demonstrates not only creativity, but a deep understanding of the script. The sound effects and music chosen were consistently appropriate for the moment, and added to the already existing emotional charge. The illusion of a stream or a storm is provided in ways that are immediately accessible to the audience, and the twang and pull of strings draws the audience into dying musings of a ruined man. St. John Paul has demonstrated ambition and creativity though sound design, and has put together a vivid audible backdrop on which to paint a gothic tragedy.

The show is not only audibly engaging but visually appealing, thanks to detailed and appropriate hair and makeup. Like the sound team, hair and makeup has demonstrated a clear understanding of the play, which is visible not only in the makeup of all of the characters, from appropriately feminine blush on the cheeks of clean European ladies to the chilled and cracking skin of battle worn sailor's, but in the makeup of Frankenstein's Monster itself. The Creature, a being cobbled together from the parts of many men, is a constant and disturbing presence in the play. Any makeup on the creature must be authentically gory, and still hold up to time and action under hot lights and layers of clothing; a test which St. John Paul's monster held up to with aplomb. The makeup department at St. John Paul has demonstrated close attention to detail, even going so far as to draw the design up and into the hair of the creature (creating two distinct styles that exist on the same scalp).

The actors themselves handled the mature story of Frankenstein, one filled with death and tragedy, with a professionalism that exceeds their years. Madison Perry, as Elizabeth, the doomed fiance of Victor Frankenstein, is lovable and noble in her role. Joseph Coyle, as the creature, is deeply sympathetic and vulnerable, and at the same time dangerous and alarming. Dr. Frankenstein himself, played by Richard von Tersch, is softly spoken and brilliant, but passionate and strong willed. Each actor added levels to their character which prevented predictability and forced audiences to question what makes evil, and what makes a man a "man".

Frankenstein at St. John Paul is a faithful adaptation of a brilliant work, and a production that contains elements that are leagues ahead of high school theater.

Abbigail Alm
Potomac Senior High School
Submitted for publication to The Catholic Herald

Lightning crackles, electricity hums. The glowing heart beats, ever-present. Saint John Paul the Great High School's production of Frankenstein shook the minds of everyone watching, begging the question, "At what point has science gone too far?" Adapted from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel of the same name, her monster has become extremely prominent in modern horror and popular culture. Beginning in frigid mountains, three exhausted explorers encounter the dying Doctor Victor Frankenstein, who tells them of his tragic tale.

Victor paints a picture of his bone-chilling story, starting with his obsession of reanimating the dead as a child. He tells of the benefactors leading to his desire to create life, beginning with his fascination with electricity, past medical experiments, and his mother's death. Hiring a sly, no-questions-asked assistant named Ernst to help him collect spare body parts, Victor Frankenstein sets out to begin his latest experiment. After two years of keeping himself locked in his laboratory, he finally succeeds once a fateful lightning storm strikes the city on the night he finished the creature. The monster sprang up out of its eternal slumber as Victor, immediately appalled by his creation, runs away in terror, allowing the creature to escape.

Richard von Tersch's portrayal of Dr. Victor Frankenstein was stellar, showing his steady descent into madness, overwhelmed with the guilt of knowing what he'd created. His last moments had the audience on the edge of their seats as Victor died in the arms of a captain he'd just met, yet shared his life story with. The Creature, played by Joseph Coyle, showed an exemplary arc of coming to grips with humanities' rejection of him, as well as his plan of revenge toward his creator. Frankenstein's fiancée, Elizabeth, was embodied excellently by Madison Perry, keeping a consistent pace and genuine worry and dismay painted on her face whenever she was with her troubled fiancée. Captain Robert Walton (Liam Brennan) brought substantial energy into each scene, intently listening to Frankenstein's tale and showing genuine fury towards the monster after Victor's passing.

The layered, dimensional set was not only appealing to look at but gave the audience a clear understanding as to where each scene was occurring, with the frozen, unforgiving ice caps towering over Victor's present room and childhood home, and the lab, center-stage, with the giant, glowing heart eminently looming above it. Each scene was skillfully separated by a voice-over involving Victor and the explorers, as Victor would give scarce information about the upcoming scene, telling the audience what to expect and giving them a window into Victor's mind and emotions through his recounted regrets. Background instrumentals not only fit in with the period but were aesthetically pleasing to listen to and didn't overpower the actor's penetrating voices. The Creature's makeup was unnervingly realistic and detail-oriented, especially when studied up close. Props were well-thought out and realistic, with the explorer's guns being particularly memorable, as the crowd, for a few moments, wondered, "Are those real!?"

This thought-provoking story has proved immune to the test of time, embedding itself into the wide range of classic stories we see influencing the masses time and time again. Despite still being beyond our years for scientific advancement, this timeless tale warns of what may happen when someone tries to play God.

Annie Silva
Chantilly High School
Submitted for publication to Lorton Valley Star

A thirst for knowledge, an insatiable curiosity and a tinge of insanity all combine in one man's journey to create life out of death. Mary Shelley's classic tale came to life in Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School's production of Frankenstein.

Based off the novel first published in 1818, Frankenstein follows the story of a young scientist, Victor, on his quest to create life from death. When Victor creates his Creature, he is appalled to see its hideous features and shuns it away out of self loathing for his failure. The monster, rejected from society, begins a series of murders out of his anger over his own creation. The novel, and subsequent play, has intrigued audiences for centuries through its investigations on the morality of scientific progress, the creation of life, and what it means to be "human".

At the head of the story was Dr. Victor Frankenstein played by Richard Von Tersch. von Tersch exceptionally portrayed the role of the frenzied and emotionally driven doctor, and expertly executed the transformation of the character from reserved and curious scientist to the broken and desperate man the doctor becomes as he realizes the tragedy his creature has inflicted onto the world. Playing opposite the doctor was the gruesome Creature he had created, played by Joseph Coyle. Coyle portrayed the manic and murderous Creature excellently. His physicality and vocal coloring had the audience drawing back in fear whenever he stepped on stage. Together, the Doctor and his creation built the intensity of the climax nicely, and successfully portrayed this iconic duo.

A standout from the supporting cast was Frankenstein's love interest, Elizabeth Lavenza, played by Madison Perry. Perry consistently maintained a strong character voice and carefully executed the emotional arc of her character. Tersch and Perry had strong chemistry, as they displayed the ultimately tragic love story of their characters. Another standout was the servant of the family, Justine Moritz, played by Sophia Barrick. After the Creature kills the Doctor's younger brother, the town blames Justine for the boy's death and she is put on trial for the murder. Barrick beautifully portrayed the heartbreaking sorrow her character felt for the young boy's death and her own unjustly met guilty verdict.

The set was fairly well-constructed and versatile, with a back wall painted to be a laboratory as well as two large platforms to portray the frozen tundra where the explorers and the Doctor begin the story from. While there were some microphone mishaps, the sound still stood out as they utilized creepy orchestrations for particularly intense scenes, as well as various voice-overs to convey Victor's narrations during scene transitions. The voice-overs truly made the audience feel as if they book had come to life. Another standout from the tech was the makeup. While some scars and marking seemed out of place, the make up for the Creature was gruesome and terrifying, in all the right ways. The actor's face was divided into 3 sections, the most disgusting had nasty and bloody sores that raised off the Creature's face. The makeup team even dyed the actor's hair in different sections to accurately convey the assorted dead bodies the Creature had been made of.

Saint JP the Great Catholic High School put on a gory, shocking and thought-provoking production of Frankenstein that left the audience shaken to its very core.