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Original play Mary’s Monster to debut at UIndy

October 30, 2017 in Campus NewsFeatures

The University of Indianapolis ushers in Halloween with Mary’s Monster, a new work by playwright K. T. Peterson. A staged reading will be held at 8 p.m., Oct. 31, at Ransburg Auditorium on campus, with a discussion with the playwright immediately following. Additional performance date: Nov. 7. Admission is free. 
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Lauren Raker designed the promotional poster on letterpress.

The Department of Theatre commissioned the original play as part of UIndy’s Communiversity: Frankenstein program, and the project was generously funded through a Shaheen Grant from the Shaheen College of Arts & Sciences.

While the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s famous novel focuses on the story of Frankenstein, director James Leagre, assistant professor of theatre, explained that Mary’s Monster (originally referred to as The Mary Shelley Project) explores the woman behind the story – “and what we might perceive as the contributing elements of her life and how they inform and influence the Frankenstein story.”

“K.T. has written a piece that melds together the biographical world of Mary with the fictional world of the Frankenstein story. Over the summer we discussed a variety of approaches, and one consistent theme was a female-driven piece that explores issues of feminism today,” Leagre explained.

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Leagre said the student actors identified several themes in Peterson’s work, including how love can be a great strength or a great weakness. The piece also explores other “monsters” besides Shelley’s creature that must be tamed in order to be successful. Other themes include mental health and the idea that money alone cannot bring happiness – all ideas that still resonate today.

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