Frankenstein brought to life in play adapted and directed by Christina Schwab ’25
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
A student cast and crew directed by Christina Schwab ’25 returned a lost adaptation of Frankenstein to the stage for the first time in nearly a century in two sold-out performances at Providence College. Peggy Webling’s 1927 play, Frankenstein, was the first stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel written by a woman and the credited source material for the genre-defining 1931 film starring Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster.
For Schwab, an English and theatre double major from Havertown, Pennsylvania, adapting and directing a play based on one of her favorite novels and the work of a lesser-known playwright was a natural extension of her classroom studies.
Theatre is a laboratory for stories.
Christina Schwab ’25
“Theatre is a laboratory for stories,” Schwab said. “For science majors, the lab puts what’s learned in the classroom in their hands and makes them part of what they study. For students of literature and other humanities disciplines, the stage does the same.”
“By attending Frankenstein … we are all engaging in a moment of human connection,” she wrote in the director’s note for the printed program. “There is no experience quite like that of visiting the theatre.”
Schwab was inspired to adapt and stage Frankenstein by the scholarly work of Bruce Graver, Ph.D., professor of English. Graver’s 2024 book, Peggy Webling and the Story Behind Frankenstein: The Making of a Hollywood Monster, includes previously unpublished playscripts and primary sources and is the most thorough biographical and historical study of Webling and her work to date. Graver wrote and edited the book with Webling’s great-grandniece, historian Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum, Ph.D. In consultation with Graver and Greenbaum, Schwab chose to adapt a 1298 version of Webling’s script available in the public domain.
In a departure from Shelley’s tale of Victor Frankenstein and his nameless creature, Webling’s play names the creature “Frankenstein” after his creator. Webling portrays Frankenstein the scientist (whose name is “Henry” in the play) and Frankenstein the monster as doppelgängers — reflections of each other — thereby humanizing the monster and highlighting the monstrous side of the man who, in a secret he shares first only with other men, labors to create and command life without women.
“Webling brings a feminist perspective to her play much closer to Mary Shelley’s original vision than earlier adaptations,” Graver and Greenbaum wrote in their book introduction.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus is celebrated for the horror its readers still experience more than two centuries after it was published. The novel raises questions of what it is to be human, the nature of the relationship between creature and creator, and what frightening possibilities lie at the frontiers of natural science and technology. Shelley was 21 years old when she wrote Frankenstein — the same age as Schwab and several others involved in the recent Frankenstein production.
When Schwab read Frankenstein for the first time as a high school student in the spring of 2020, some themes felt especially relevant amid the tense early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A horror story involving medical science, technology, and a deadly threat felt fitting as the world was turned upside-down by disease. It was instantly my favorite thing I had ever read,” Schwab said.
She was delighted to see Frankenstein included in the syllabus for her Development of Western Civilization seminar with Margaret Reid, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of English. And when introduced to Webling’s adaptation by Graver, she began to think about staging Webling’s play through the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film. In her junior year, she applied to direct Webling’s Frankenstein as the capstone project for her degree in theatre. Her proposal was accepted, and the signature project began.
She discussed her vision with friends who are also theatre students. The core group planning the production included Schwab as adaptor and director; Kathryn Genest ’25 (Abington, Massachusetts) as scene, lighting, and properties designer; and Maisie Cocker ’25 (Nantucket, Massachusetts) — whose credited stage name is Maisie Meehan — as costume and sound designer. They were guided by Erin Joy Schmidt, MFA ’00, associate professor of theatre. They staged their play in the John Bowab ’55 Studio Theatre — a black box environment in which stage, lights, props, and audience seating are customizable for each production.
The theatre program is a close-knit community of majors and minors who have resources to stage ambitious and innovative productions of all kinds, from Shakespeare to Stephen Sondheim, in the 55,000-square-foot Smith Center for the Arts. In addition to the Bowab Theatre, the building houses the mainstage in Angell Blackfriars Theatre, a scene shop, a costume shop, and classrooms.
Schwab was drawn to PC because she could study both English and theatre. She saw how the core requirements, including the Development of Western Civilization Program, known as Civ, would dovetail with her majors. She received the college’s Nagle Scholarship for studies in theatre arts, and a virtual tour of campus made her excited to see the college in person.
“I committed to Providence College without visiting campus because of the pandemic, but when I walked through the Smith Center for the first time, I thought ‘Oh my gosh, I hit the jackpot,’” Schwab said. Meeting friends like Genest and Cocker in the theatre program only confirmed that she made the right choice.
Schwab, Genest, and Cocker read Webling’s 1928 script together while studying abroad in London in the spring of 2024. They continued brainstorming and planning during the summer. In November 2024, they held auditions for the play’s nine roles. Schwab cast students majoring or minoring in theatre as well as other interested students.
The role of Frankenstein the monster is unlike any of the others — he has a fully grown and powerful body with the consciousness of a young child.
“My character was only recently brought to life and is both fascinated and overwhelmed by the world around him,” said Kevin Bongiorno ’25 (Williston, New York), who played Frankenstein, in an audience talkback after the play’s closing performance. “I aimed to convey childlike wonder that can quickly collapse into tantrums.”
Bongiorno worked with Megan Chang, MFA, associate professor of voice and speech in the theatre program, and Schwab was moved by the voice and mannerisms he developed.
“Kevin brought Frankenstein to life in a way that far exceeded what I imagined,” Schwab said. “He understood that Frankenstein is really a child who desires attention, affection, and connection. He achieved his vision beautifully.”
FRANKENSTEIN: You kept me in the darkness — when outside there was a world full of light — a world full of kindness. I will kill you now, you who brought me to life but robbed me of the chance to live. [F. advances toward Henry]
Dialogue from the final scene Of Peggy Webling’s Frankenstein, adapted by Christina Schwab ’25
When speaking about Bongiorno and the other actors, Schwab shifts her phrasing about the production from her vision to their vision. As director, she excelled at facilitating collaboration and shared imagination. John Garrity, MFA ’73, a retired associate professor of theatre who continues to work in an adjunct role, encouraged this approach of empowering her actors.
“John told me that when an actor asks a question about how to perform a scene or deliver a line, ask what they think. He encouraged me to let them follow their intuition as much as possible,” Schwab said.
Following intuition led some actors to introduce props, gestures, and other elements not in the script. For Owen Kruger ’25 (Kinnelon, New Jersey), whose majors are history and English, it felt fitting that Henry Frankenstein would carry and interact with a notebook. Returning constantly to the book conveyed the character’s obsession and the way his project is front of mind even as he converses with others. In early rehearsals, Kruger carried his own spiral academic notebook. As opening night approached, he was provided a more period-accurate prop.
For the role of Henry Frankenstein’s academic mentor, Dr. Waldman, actor Rodney Lopez ’25 (Ridgefield Park, New Jersey) introduced sinister tones to the scene late in the play when his character tries to persuade a distraught Frankenstein to kill himself. Lopez hands Frankenstein a knife he draws from his sleeve, drawing on familiar idiom to convey Waldman’s willingness to trick and emotionally manipulate the childlike Frankenstein.
Watching emotionally charged scenes like a confused Frankenstein carrying Henry’s drowned sister Katrine — played by Sara D’Andrea ’25 (West Islip, New York) — onstage at the play’s first dress rehearsal nearly moved Schwab to tears of pity for her characters and of pride in her actors. Katrine, who has a physical disability and is infantilized by her family, is the only character in the play to take pity on Frankenstein.
“Katrine recognizes that Frankenstein is different, but so is she. She is a gentle kindred spirit who is the only person to give Frankenstein the kindness he craves,” Schwab said.
Watching her play come together, she remembered Garrity’s words from a directing course.
“John told me that in the beginning, I would know the most about the play and its characters. By opening night, the actors will know more about their individual characters than I could ever know,” Schwab said. “He was absolutely right.”
Frankenstein carrying Katrine is one of several scenes involving touch. Schmidt, who is certified to advise actors as an intimacy coordinator, coached the actors to perform the scenes safely and comfortably.
Schwab wanted to open the play in a way that paid tribute to Webling’s script as the source material for the 1931 film. For inspiration, she listened to the musical score composed in 2001 by Michael Shapiro for the 1931 film that was originally released without music.
“Over the last year, I listened to the Frankenstein theme over and over. It could feel obsessive at times, so I was relieved that it wasn’t a top song in my Spotify Wrapped for 2024,” Schwab said, referring to the streaming service’s end-of-year listening summary.
Schwab decided to open the play by projecting title credits set to music in the style of the Hollywood film. She rehearsed the remarks she made before the play to finish speaking just before the music intensified. She used a simple and readily available tool to achieve what she envisioned.
“I made the title credits video with a trial version of Canva,” Schwab said. “I was very excited with how it turned out.”
Schwab studied a range of secondary sources on Frankenstein and its adaptations and submitted written research and reflection to be graded as part of her academic project. But she sees her work on Frankenstein as more than a directorial debut or the capstone of her studies. The project has been her most sustained and rewarding engagement with themes and questions at the heart of a PC liberal arts education.
Frankenstein is about the fatal repercussions of arrogance and the abuse of knowledge and technology, but most of all, “Frankenstein is a story about what it means to be human,” Schwab said. “Are we human beings just because of our genetics … or is being human about something more complex, more emotional, more genuine? I believe that, at the end of the day, loving others is what really makes us human.”
An aspiring novelist and playwright, Schwab is writing a stage adaptation of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane — another favorite novel she read in Civ. She also is in the early stages of writing a novel through an independent study course with Alison Espach, Ph.D., associate professor of English and the author of the bestseller The Wedding People. The premise involves a character who, like Schwab, sings professionally at funerals.
Learn more about Peggy Webling and the Story Behing Frankenstein: The Making of a Hollywood Monster, the 2024 book by Bruce Graver, Ph.D., professor of English, and Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum, Ph.D., that inspired Schwab’s project.
The Fund for Providence College supports the development of academic opportunities at PC like this interdisciplinary study. A gift through The Fund for Providence College contributes to the success of faculty scholars and the students they teach.
