All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.
Woodberry's Black Box Theater Presents Playing with Fire January 31-Feburary 2
Woodberry Forest School's Advanced Acting & Directing Class presents Playing with Fire written by Barbara Field. The play will take place in the Black Box Theater, located underneath the full stage of the Bowman Gray Auditorium in the Walker Fine Arts Center and will run from January 31-February 2 with a start time of 8:00 p.m.
Beginning where Mary Shelley's Frankenstein leaves off, the play takes place in a frozen wasteland in the arctic, where Victor Frankenstein has finally tracked down his creation, a sad lonely outcast who simply wants to understand his existence. Before Victor pulls the trigger to destroy his 'abomination,' he and his creature confront their conjoined past, considering the intersections between dreams and accountability, ambition and compassion.
Please Note: This show contains mild violence which may be frightening to young audiences. This show is free and open to the public.
Beginning where Mary Shelley's Frankenstein leaves off, the play takes place in a frozen wasteland in the arctic, where Victor Frankenstein has finally tracked down his creation, a sad lonely outcast who simply wants to understand his existence. Before Victor pulls the trigger to destroy his 'abomination,' he and his creature confront their conjoined past, considering the intersections between dreams and accountability, ambition and compassion.
Please Note: This show contains mild violence which may be frightening to young audiences. This show is free and open to the public.
Directors' Notes:
This year marks an important anniversary for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Her work has been terrifying readers since its publication in 1818; for two hundred years the novel has been famous for its commentary on pride, the potential of science to do good and evil, the duty of a parent to a rebellious child, an artist to his creation, God to man. Despite its recognition as a fine literary work and one of the best horror novels ever written, Frankenstein seems to be missing something at the end, which critics and readers have noticed for the length of the novel's history. SPOILER ALERT: there is no final meeting in the book between Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. There is no battle, no examination of motives, no revenge, no climax. Frankenstein simply expires.
The 1931 movie certainly has a climax--a major change from the book. The Creature dies. But that's no good! And what is with the Monster's lack of a voice, the flat top, the bolts sticking out of his neck...? Barbara Field’s Playing With Fire is an attempt to give critics and readers what they have always wanted: a final confrontation between Dr. Frankenstein and his creation that still manages to stay true to Shelley's novel. This play retells the original tale but provides an alternate ending, which ending the Advanced Acting and Directing class has come to truly admire.
So what is our goal with this piece besides tampering with a classic? We want to give the audience a performance that will frighten you and make you think, make you question your “sense of morality, your map of good and evil.” We invite you to hold on to your preconceptions, however. As the show progresses, you may find yourself reconsidering who--or what--you believe to be “good” and who you believe is “evil." As in real life, the line between the two is not as clearly drawn as you might believe.
–The Advanced Acting & Directing Class and Brent Cirves
Poster Design by Ethan Barbour, '18
This year marks an important anniversary for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Her work has been terrifying readers since its publication in 1818; for two hundred years the novel has been famous for its commentary on pride, the potential of science to do good and evil, the duty of a parent to a rebellious child, an artist to his creation, God to man. Despite its recognition as a fine literary work and one of the best horror novels ever written, Frankenstein seems to be missing something at the end, which critics and readers have noticed for the length of the novel's history. SPOILER ALERT: there is no final meeting in the book between Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. There is no battle, no examination of motives, no revenge, no climax. Frankenstein simply expires.
The 1931 movie certainly has a climax--a major change from the book. The Creature dies. But that's no good! And what is with the Monster's lack of a voice, the flat top, the bolts sticking out of his neck...? Barbara Field’s Playing With Fire is an attempt to give critics and readers what they have always wanted: a final confrontation between Dr. Frankenstein and his creation that still manages to stay true to Shelley's novel. This play retells the original tale but provides an alternate ending, which ending the Advanced Acting and Directing class has come to truly admire.
So what is our goal with this piece besides tampering with a classic? We want to give the audience a performance that will frighten you and make you think, make you question your “sense of morality, your map of good and evil.” We invite you to hold on to your preconceptions, however. As the show progresses, you may find yourself reconsidering who--or what--you believe to be “good” and who you believe is “evil." As in real life, the line between the two is not as clearly drawn as you might believe.
–The Advanced Acting & Directing Class and Brent Cirves
Poster Design by Ethan Barbour, '18
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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