Happy Birthday Frankenstein!

Episode 213: Happy Birthday Frankenstein! It’s Frankenstein’s Birthday this month! Or more accurately, it’s the birthday of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of the classic gothic romance Frankenstein. Drama teacher and playwright Laramie Dean talks about writing his adaptation of the novel (Frankenstein Among the Dead), what it’s like to take on this iconic work and writing for his students. How do you adapt it to the high school stage and high school budgets? How do you adapt it so there is more variety in the gender roles? (PS: there are great parts for girls in his play!) Show Notes Frankenstein Among the Dead Laramie Dean Podcast: This Place Scares Us on Frankenstein Among the Dead Episode Transcript Welcome to the Drama Teacher Podcast brought to you by Theatrefolk – the Drama Teacher Resource Company. I’m Lindsay Price. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 213, and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode213. Did you know it’s Frankenstein’s birthday this month? Happy birthday, Frankenstein! Well, more accurately, it is the birthday of Mary – oh, I’m going to say this so wrong – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley – Mary Shelley – the author of the classic gothic romance, Frankenstein. Our guest today tackled this iconic story and adapted it into a play – a play for high schools. Not an easy feat, right? There are many movie adaptations, many parodies. “It’s Frankens-teen, not Frankenstein.” That was the worst ever, don’t you think? I think! Many versions of the monster. How do you make it theatrical? How do you adapt it to the high school stage and high school budget? How do you make it current to the student climate? We can’t publish a play that’s all guys and all the great parts. So many questions! Let’s get to the answers. I’ll see you on the other side! LINDSAY: Hello! Thank you everybody for listening! I’m here today with Laramie Dean. LARAMIE: Hello, Lindsay! LINDSAY: Tell everybody where in the world you are. LARAMIE: I am in Missoula, Montana. LINDSAY: Missoula, Montana. Very nice. We’re going to talk about a lot of things. We’re going to talk about you. We’re going to talk about Frankenstein Among the Dead which is this lovely – let’s see – this lovely thing. It’s a brand-new play here at Theatrefolk. We’re going to start with you and teaching. How long have you been a drama teacher? LARAMIE: I started teaching theatre in 2003 as an assistant to one of the professors of the University of Montana where I had just recently finished my bachelor’s degree in acting and I was sort of at odds. I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore. Dr Jillian Campana – who is a huge influence on me and my career – asked me to come and assistant direct the university’s production of The Laramie Project. I had never directed before. She said, “Oh, you’ll be great, you’ll be great!” We had a freshman in the program. He was very hard to reach, and she was having trouble directing him. She said, “You work with this guy after rehearsal.” I was like, “Ah, umm…” I sat down with him and we talked. I gave him some suggestion and some direction. He changed for the better and, all of a sudden, I went, “Oh, my god, I can do this. I’m actually good at this.