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A.R.T. Recreates Frankenstein

Tuesday April 1, 2008

   Under the direction of Steve Small and production of Candace Burkle, the Addison Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) will produce Frankenstein in the A.R.T. Studio Theater at the Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury Vermont.  Tickets are $10 for general admissions and $5 for students and seniors.  Frankenstein will be performed May 8-10, 2008 at 7:30pm.  Call Candace at 802-382-1036 for information and reservations.

   Mary Godwin Shelley was nineteen years old when she took on the challenge to write the best horror story ever.  She had some powerful competitors including Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, two of the most famous poets of the Romantic Era.  Mary introduced the world to Frankenstein and the name became the modern archetype for monster.  Her tale of creation and destruction captured the world’s imagination, and since 1853 Frankenstein has continued to appear on stage and film, adapting Shelley’s novel of the mad scientist and his Creature.  Addison Repertory Theater adds yet another version.

   The students of A.R.T. found Mary Godwin Shelley’s story as compelling as the classic horror story.  Although she lived amongst the literati of her time, and married an aristocrat she was cut off from wealth and society.  Percy Shelley already had a wife when he fell in love with the daughter of William Godwin who ran a famous literary salon in London.  Both families disowned the young lovers as they fled to Switzerland to spend a damp summer with Mary’s half-sister and Lord Byron.  Sparks ignited between the strong-willed artists.  A.R.T. weaves their tale into the story of Frankenstein.  The result shows us the monster that may lurk within the human who dares to create.

   A.R.T. is a special high school training program in the theater arts, and requires students to produce five high quality shows a year.  There are actually two programs-one in technical theater and the other in acting.  Students elect to be in these programs for half their high school day and may earn three credits - English, Fine Arts and an elective.  Students have attended our program from a variety of high schools:  Middlebury, Mount  Abraham, Vergennes, Rochester, Champlain Valley, Otter Valley, Red Cedar and Gailer.

   In their fourteen years A.R.T. has produced over 56 shows to an admiring public.  The Diviners, The Diary of Ann Frank, Little Women, The Lusty and Comical History of Tom Jones, A Flea in Her Ear, Waiting for Godot and A Christmas Carol are just a few of their productions.  They often perform to sell-out houses.  Their program earns rave reviews from the community, parents and students, secondary schools, granting foundations and alumni.

   A.R.T. alumni are involved in the industry in several ways.  Actors have been Broadway understudies, featured in soap operas, worked with Shakespeare companies, founded their own companies - Theater, Improvisation and Internet TV.  A.R.T. has former students working with children’s theater in Africa, Switzerland and Guatemala.  Alumni are working for radio, arts college admissions, film productions and as teacher/directors.

   Frankenstein is the second production A.R.T. has adapted from literature.  In 2001 they produced their own version of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol at the Vergennes Opera House.  Adopting a classical piece allows the students a depth of learning and a chance to apply both their research and theater skills to the lively act of theater.  Students, teachers and parents are also creating an innovative and eerie set and glamorous costumes, circa 1760-1816.  Their version of Frankenstein provides a close examination of the horror story and its creator.  As the disowned monster lashes back through murder, this production is considered PG 13.

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