Frankenstein
By Danielle Mohlman
Based on the novel by Mary Shelley
Directed by Heather Burns and Meg Caudill
November 10-18, 2023
Nancy Niles Sexton Stage
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Performance Schedule:
Opening Friday, November 10 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 11 at 7:30pm
Friday, November 17 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 18 at 2:00pm
Closing Saturday, November 18 at 7:30pm
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About the Show:
When Mary Shelley sits down to write Frankenstein, she’s 18 years old with everything to prove. Her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, is too in his head to notice his wife’s phenomenal talent. She’s grieving the death of her infant daughter. And in this era of gothic literature, no one wants to believe that the darkness on the page mirrors the storm in her own head. That is, until her mother shows up. The only problem is, Mary Wollstonecraft died when Shelley was just ten days old.
This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel explores monsters and the women who create them. It’s a play that asks the age old question: How far would you go to outrun your ghosts?
TW/CW: This show has references to violence and grief. Please use caution if you need to exit the theatre and take a break.
Audience Age Recommendation: Approximately 10 years old and up. Every child is unique. We encourage parents/guardians to use their best judgment in regards to their child
Length of show: 2 hours
Intermission: There will be one 10 minute intermission - concessions will be available in the lobby courtesy of CTC’s Hardcore Club students.
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Director’s Note:
When you read Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, you come to realize that every movie version you’ve ever seen of this iconic story has strayed far from many of Mary Shelley’s intentions. Mary Shelley imbued her female characters with intelligence and integrity, while many of the writers who adapt the novel choose to strip these characters of their voices by changing what they say, changing what they do, or dropping them from the story altogether. Danielle Mohlman does take some artistic liberties with the novel herself, but we think she does so to restore and amplify the impact that women have on our lives. She also takes moments of violence against women from the novel or adaptations and reframes it from a woman’s perspective. Our favorite aspect of Mohlman’s adaptation is that Mary Shelley is given a voice and the powerful influence of Mary Wollstonecraft is acknowledged. Both women were fierce intellectuals of their day, thinkers ahead of their time, and suffered many personal losses. This play gives them back to the world and reminds us of our power to create.
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Cast & Creative:
MARY SHELLEY/THE CREATURE: Zaden Boeckman
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY: Trace Henderson
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT: Jess Burke
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN: Roman Scott
HENRY CLERVAL: Nate Brantley
ALPHONSE FRANKENSTEIN: Ray Raisor
MONSIEUR BEAUFORT: Stuart Reynolds
CAROLINE FRANKENSTEIN: Anya Cullen
ELIZABETH LAVENZA: Kaileigh Chesman
MADAME DELACEY: Sylvia Buchenberger
AGATHA DELACEY: Emma Morris
WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN: Cora Neat
JUSTINE MORITZ: Zaylie Barber
THE PARTY/ENSEMBLE: Lincoln Chesman, Kaya Grass, Stuart Reynolds
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Cast Bios:
Zaden Boeckman (Mary Shelley/The Creature) is a Junior at Jeffersontown High school and has been attending classes at CTC for 5 years. They have performed in CTC’s productions of the 2022 Young Playwrights Festival (YPF), Eurydice, The Selkie Wife, As You Like It, and Haunted Stories at CTC’s annual Fall Festival. Outside of CTC, Zaden has performed in Just Another High School Play at Jeffersontown High School.
Nate Brantley (Henry Clerval) is an actor at CTC and a senior at Francis Parker School. Nate has been at CTC for over 10 years now appearing in performances of The Tempest (Antonio), The Selkie Wife (Ridley the Fisherman), Love's Labour's Lost (Don Adriano de Armado), The Liar (Géronte), and Hamlet (The Gravedigger).
Jess Burke (she/her, Mary Wollstonecraft) is a senior at Atherton High School in her 9th year with CTC. She has been in nearly 20 plays at CTC, the most recent of which being Dear Brutus, where she played the lovely Mrs. Coade. She has also stage managed with summer camps, as well as assistant directing the most recent show at CTC, Little Women. She thanks the community of this beautiful theatre for all it has given her, as well as Meg and Heather for this amazing opportunity to play one of her favorite historical icons.
Kaileigh Chesman (she/her, Elizabeth Lavenza) is a Junior at Brown School and has been a part of Commonwealth Theatre Center for 9 years. She has participated in many Summer Academies, Haunted Stories, and mainstage plays. Some of her recent favorites include As You Like It, The Selkie Wife, and Love's Labour's Lost. She thanks her parents and grandparents for supporting her and Meg and Heather for this opportunity.
Anya Cullen (they/them, Caroline Frankenstein) is a junior at Ballard High School and has been attending Commonwealth Theater Center for six years. They play Caroline Frankenstein in this production and have stage managed summer academies and Little Women, been in main stages and haunted stories at CTC. Some of their recent work includes Dear Brutus (Mabel Purdie), Our Town (Joe Stoddard) and Love's Labour's Lost (Costard). They would like to thank their family for always believing in them and the instructors who have always given them amazing opportunities at CTC.
Trace Henderson (Percy Bysshe Shelly) is a senior at duPont Manual High School, and has been a part of the community at Commonwealth Theater Center for many years. He has been in many shows at CTC but some of his most recent appearances were: The Tempest (Ferdinand), Our Town (Mr. Webb), Love's Labour's Lost (Dumaine), and Hamlet (Ghost).
Emma Morris (Agatha Delacy) is a junior at Eastern High School. She is a 2023 Governor’s School for the Arts Alumni and has been at CTC for eight amazing years. She has performed in many CTC shows including Our Town as Professor Willard, Young Playwrights Festival 2023, The Tempest as Alonso, and multiple Haunted Stories tours.
Cora Neat (William Frankenstein) is a seventh grade student at Noe Middle School and has been attending classes at CTC for the past three years. She has performed in Summer Academy shows, including Law and Order: Fairy Tale Unit (Gretel, Sneezy, Merm) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Becky, Dutchess, March Hare, Dodo). Cora has also participated in Haunted Stories (Bathroom Ghost). Frankenstein will be Cora's first performance in a mainstage season show at Commonwealth Theatre.
Ray Raisor (Alphonse) is a sophomore student at Francis Parker and has been attending CTC since 2014. They've recently performed in Eurydice, Our Town, and As You Like It and have written and acted for CTC’s Young Playwrights Festival since 2020. They are totally stoked about being in Frankenstein!!
Stuart Reynolds (Monsieur Beaufort, Party Ensemble) is a high school senior homeschooler who is in their first semester of Conservatory at CTC. They have not been in any shows prior to this production of Frankenstein.
Roman Scott (Victor Frankenstein) is in 11th grade and attends Highlands Latin School. This is his third year at CTC, where he has performed in The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Henry Baskerville), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Anthony Dull), Our Town (man among the dead and baseball player), and As You Like It (Duke Frederick). Apart from CTC, he has been in Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio) and The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (Valentine) with The Globe Players at Kentucky Shakespeare.
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Creative Team:
Danielle Mohlman (Playwright) is a nationally produced playwright based in Seattle, WA. Her plays have been developed or produced at Arena Stage, the Kennedy Center, the Cherry Lane Theatre, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Rorschach Theatre, Forum Theatre, dog & pony dc, Hubbard Hall, Pinky Swear Productions, Dreamwell Theatre, and Field Trip Theatre, among others. Her plays include Stopgap (Field Trip Theatre, DCCAH Larry Neal Award finalist); Nexus (Hubbard Hall, Dreamwell Theatre, Kilroys honorable mention, DCCAH Larry Neal Award finalist, Woodward/Newman Award finalist); Dust (Dacha Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center semi-finalist, Finish Line Commission); Halcyon (Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center semi-finalist); Rushing (The Scratch, Umbrella Project Writers Group); Voyagers (ACT Theatre, ART/New York); and Frankenstein. Danielle is an alumna of Playwrights’ Arena at Arena Stage, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship, and the Umbrella Project Writers Group. She is a proud graduate of both Cal Poly Pomona and Emerson College.
Heather Burns (Director) has directed Henry VIII, Richard III, A Wrinkle in Time, Blue Stockings, She Kills Monsters, and The Selkie Wife at CTC. She's delighted to collaborate with Meg Caudill on Frankenstein. Heather also occasionally directs the professional Blue Apple Outreach touring productions, including Dragon Up by Maggie Lou Rader, which will tour to schools for the next two months and have a public performance at Commonwealth Theatre Center on Saturday, December 2nd. Heather has served as the Outreach Director for CTC since 2015 and was previously the Education Director for Blue Apple Players since 2006. Heather is grateful to Tony, Ambrose and her parents for supporting her artistic work.
Meg Caudill (Director) began her career at CTC in 2012 working as an outreach teaching artist and touring actor. Currently, she serves as the Education Resource Manager for both outreach and conservatory teaching artists and has taught various conservatory classes from Imagination through Performance 2. She directed the Young Company shows from 2019-2021, assisted Jen Pennington on The Merry Wives of Windsor (2018), helped develop the live soundscape and musical elements for The Trojan Women (2018) and Macbeth (2019). Last year, Meg assisted Heather Burn with The Selkie Wife and made her mainstage director debut for Dear Brutus in the 2023 Young American Shakespeare Festival. Meg can currently be seen onstage as Meetra the muskrat knight in CTC’s Blue Apple Outreach touring production of Dragon Up! Outside of CTC, Meg is a company member of Looking for Lilith Theatre Company and a proud alumna of the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) and worked for the program almost every summer from 1999-2021. Thank you for your continued support of our conservatory students and live theatre!
Lindsay Chamberlin (Costume Designer) is excited to be in her eigth season at Commonwealth Theatre. Starting in Halloween costume design, she moved to theatrical work at Actors Theatre of Louisville as the Assistant Costume Designer eleven years ago. She has worked with several local companies including Pandora Productions, Theatre 502, Liminal Playhouse, Bellarmine University, Hardin County Performing Arts Center, Josephine Sculpture Park Summer Shakespeare and is an active company member with Looking for Lilith Theatre Company.
Hannah Greene (Props Designer) is a local theatrical artist who has been active in the theatre scene for the last six years, working with companies including Bunbury Theatre Company, The Kentucky Opera, and Looking for Lilith. They joined the CTC family in March of 2020. When Hannah isn’t working on theatre you can usually catch them drawing or making stickers! Thanks to Colt, who has supported them through all their artistic endeavors.
Riley O’Bryan (Stage Manager) Riley is an 11th grade student at duPont Manual High School and has been attending CTC for 8 years. Riley has stage managed multiple shows at CTC, including Law and Order: Fairytale Unit, Our Town (ASM), and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Riley has also performed in many shows at CTC, the most recent being Dear Brutus (Matey).
Jamie Heberle (she/her, Assistant Stage Manager) Jamie is a 12th grader at Brown School in her 11th year with CTC. She has appeared in The Tempest, Our Town, Eurydice (ASM), James and the Giant Peach, The Wizard of Oz, The Trials of Robin Hood, Circe and Ulysses, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Baker Goes to War.
Ella Kozoll (Assistant Stage Manager, Party Ensemble) is a freshman at J. Graham Brown School and has been at CTC for about 5 years. She has most recently performed in YPF 2023 (Apples), Our Town (Ensemble) and Little Women (multiple roles). They also were a stage manager for The Tempest and multiple summer academies this year.
*There are no refunds or exchanges for this production. If tickets are not claimed at the door five minutes before the performance, they are subject to be given to patrons on the waiting list. Thank you for your understanding.*
