Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Frankenstein


Frankenstein.
On that stage, I felt alive. Fresh. Transported to a different world. Strong. Impacting. Powerful. Real.
With the right cast, devotion, sets, lights, costumes, and acting, you can really create something.
My 7th grade drama class just performed Frankenstein. It was the original story by Mary Shelly, but my teacher, Mr. McEneny, adapted it. I think he's a very good teacher. A little TO into it, at times, but overall, the simplest way to say it is that he's really cool. As a younger kid, I'd always loved make-believe, playing, parallel universes created by me. And he really takes acting to another level.  He said earlier today, "I have prepared some activities for us today." I don't know why, but that made me excited in a calm, happy way. Drama is more of a fun, innovative class, as oppose to the other serious courses we take. I don't know, but after the state tests that morning, it felt quite good.
We are doing a process drama now, where the story is set but it is really the actors, us, that determine its past. The one we started today was set about 50-60 years into the future. Somehow, due to pollution or some unimaginable trigger, world population has highly decreased, due to the fact that it is becoming almost impossible for women to have children. Schools are closing, orphanages are shutting down, and eager parents are left with no possibilities for these mini people needed to complete a family. Suddenly, one day, 19 couples all over the world receive a thick, grey envelope, with the words "The Grey Institute" inscribed on the front. Within the package, there is an exact address in New York City. It is an invitation to come to 36th street between Broome and Nevins, building number 178, floor number 6, room number F14, using the code TGI36B+N178FN6RMF14 to unlock the door, on the 16th of April, 2076 at precisely 9:48:11 a.m. with your spouse. The letter states that this may be the chance to receive a child. 
So we go their with our partners, and a man named Mr. Grey tells these 19 couples about the new, very secrete pill he and his team have put together. One pill, one measly pill can, within a few weeks, rouse a child with the true DNA of its parents. All of us, all so eager to raise a child, have to explain why we would become the best parents. Only six couples receive the Grey Pill. However, how can we trust this man? This stranger? One who has the answer to all our hopes and dreams right in his pocket?
Back to Frankenstein, I honestly had a thrilling time with it. It was so, I don't know, empowering! With the awesome lights and dramatic music during the creation scene to the seriousness of the Lunatic Asylum scene, to the sorrowful Frankenstein household: It was very exciting. I played Justine Moritz, young William Frankenstein's , the little brother of Victor Frankenstein,  governess. I auditioned for the part, and received it! It was a significant role, and I felt like an important part of the story.

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