Kemper Corner, Ben Kemper
There is a special wonder in the joy of creating a great deal from very little. The oldest piece of storytelling, taking a stick, a shadow, the human voice: and creating whole worlds from them. In Michael Cotey’s interpretation of Daivd Quicksall’s adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein, seven brave souls launch themselves into the arctic wastes of a bleak and awesome (proper use) story, with nothing but a sheet, two cubes, some books, some chalk, a guitar, and their own invention to aid them.
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The cast is incredibly inventive in [Mary] Zimmermanlike, conjuring great worlds from very little, and creating a language of gesture: a trembling finger for electricity, a line of raised books for an enticing graveyard. Creating their own soundscape of humming, strumming and thunder clashes on the walls, they breathe ominous notes into the piece as well as cultivating in the tenderness and terror that makes this story the event so many subsequent tales ape at.
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As the story progresses, its language of gesture becoming more violent (the sequence of Victor’s pursuit by dog-sled across the ice is absolutely breathtaking), I am reminded of the power of storytelling, as I watch these artists boldly attempt The most promethean feat of all: taking an old story, in a bare room, and bringing it to life.
Performed as part of the Northwestern MFA FISK Series. These are the first-year shows for MFA directing candidates at Northwestern. Staged in a small classroom space, directors are expected to take care of all technical elements with no budget. All actors are undergraduates at NU.
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*Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Adapted by David Quicksall
For Book-It Repertory Theatre
All Rights Reserved.
First commissioned, developed and produced in the “Book-It Style”™ by Book-it Repertory Theatre (Founded in 1990 in Seattle, Washington - www.book-it.org)
