Cappies Chronicles: Georgia Trites’ Review on the Frankenstein Play

By Georgia Trites ’25, Staff Writer; Edited by Kat Willson ’26, Editor-in-Chief

Cappies is a theatre critic program for high school students. Under the guidance of Mr. Lockey, Ridley's team explores local theatre productions and critiques them individually. These reviews, among many others from secondary schools participating in the Cappies program, undergo a selection process where the top three are chosen for publication in the St. Catherines Standard. - Rawnie Sun, Head Editor-in-Chief

Rain is pouring, lightning briefly illuminates the shadowy horizon, and somewhere in the untamed expanse of the Swiss wilderness, a creature is stalking through the forest in dogged pursuit of the acceptance, guidance, and purpose he was denied by his enigmatic creator. Port Colborne's production of Frankenstein is based on a recent script adapting Mary Shelley's seminal 1818 novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus—and as Shelley began work on the revolutionary novel at only eighteen years old, it is fitting that it is through the commitment and passion of today's young people that the narrative is brought to life anew.

Clifford Stillwell delivers a magnetic performance as protagonist Victor Frankenstein, a student whose fanatical fixation on the prospect of crossing the "scientific frontier" of death propels him along a destructive path that spells doom for his loved ones as well as the creature he creates. Stillwell's mannerisms as Frankenstein are dramatic, flamboyant, and indicative of his tendency to become absorbed in his work—he hits his notebook with his quill when he makes a point he feels particularly strongly about, makes grandiose movements with his hands, and when receiving a letter from a loved one, he cannot tear his eyes away from his desk even as the actor playing the character who sent the letter turned towards him multiple times. Frankenstein's ego and repulsion towards his own creation are portrayed expertly by Stillwell through a commitment to the physicality of the character, and one of the most powerful manifestations of these aspects of Frankenstein's character was a scene where Frankenstein touched the Monster during an argument, and his hand trembled, held aloft as though it had made contact with something diseased and fetid, for the remainder of the scene.

The Monster was another highlight, performance-wise, as Iszak Lubinskyj delivered an immensely compelling rendition of a tortured creature who has fundamentally human motivations despite the horrific acts of violence he resorts to.

Lubinskyj's makeup was appropriate for the broadly book-accurate approach Port Colborne's adaptation took on, as its most distinctive feature was a jagged red gash across his face peppered with what appeared to be sutures, indicating that the Monster was created from various corpses obtained by less-than-ethical means and subsequently stitched together by Frankenstein. The Monster's clothes also contribute to the visual effect of the character and reference his origins, since his mismatched shirt and pants seemed as though they may well have been taken from two separate corpses.

Lubinskyj's emotional line delivery make the Monster an even more harrowing and tragic presence in the story, as they convey his guilt and devastation at his continual rejection from his creator (who he sees as his father, his "creator," his "king") and from the world he was brought into.

While many minor and side characters felt underdeveloped due to their scant presence in the script and not being sufficiently distinguished from one another by certain performers, there was one in particular that stole the show. This character was, interestingly enough, male in the source material but was rewritten as a woman in this adaptation -- Ursula Clerval, played by Olivia Smith, is Frankenstein's peer at Ingolstadt University in Germany, and as a woman in a predominantly male space, she provides a doubtful and logical perspective on Frankenstein's morbid fascinations. Elizabeth Levanza, Frankenstein's dainty and kind-hearted love interest, is another interesting female character whose presence adds necessary depth to the play's narrative. She is clothed in soft pinks and whites, even in a courtroom scene after the death of Frankenstein's brother where all other characters are clad in black, highlighting her innocence and solidifying her role as an archetypal tragic Romantic heroine. When she narrates her letters to Frankenstein (a reference to the original novel's epistolary format), she stands at the very edge of the stage, showing how she has been sidelined and disregarded in her relationship with him, and when she attempts to connect with Frankenstein about his work, she is dismissed without pretense. The fact that much of her character feels unexplored by the end of the play actually contributes to the relevance of a feminist reading of the play wherein the female characters are sidelined precisely because Frankenstein sees them as irrelevant in his pursuit of innovation at all costs and despite all the sacrifices that innovation entails, including that of his humanity and moral compass.

Certain transitions were clumsy, but the addition of lilting piano interludes composed by Rowan VanNatter made them far less disruptive to the flow of the show. One transition which was particularly creative was when one scene was dismantled as Frankenstein paces across the stage, making the movement of the articles of furniture to distinguish between distinct locations feel as though they were tangible indications of Frankenstein's psychological turmoil. Lighting was a highlight of the show, and was particularly impressive because the lighting team of Tyler and Aaron Vickers were working on a limited timeline using a new system that they had to take time at home to familiarize themselves with. Changes in lighting during key moments in the story were especially evocative, with spotlights on Frankenstein underscoring his deepening isolation and sense of entrapment and changes to red lighting as the Monster resorts to violence and slaughters those in Frankenstein's life who care for and matter to him.

Frankenstein at Port Colborne High School was an electrifying rendition of a classic narrative, and the fact that many of the talented students who contributed to the performances, lighting, costuming, promotion, and staging of this play will continue to be engaged in next year's dramatic performance should convince those who are interested in the arts and in supporting young people's creative development to catch Port Colborne's next production!