Fine Arts Teacher Brian Schroyer Sees in Every Student an Artist in the Making
November 14, 2025
The SPS Theater Company fills every seat for “Frankenstein.”
BY KATE DUNLOP
With an original script by Theater Director Meg O’Connell, spearheading her first production at St. Paul’s School, the SPS Theater Company brought to life the tale first told in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel “Frankenstein” in a compelling, brisk 72-minute performance that filled every seat in the New Space Theater on Nov. 7 and 8.
In the beginning, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, played by Fourth Former Jai Soon, creates his Monster, and it is of hideous form. From darkness, it emerges into light, with an infant’s unawareness of its appearance and an openness to the world and its wonders.
But it learns, quickly. After Frankenstein beholds his creation with horror and flees, a conflicted, complicated darkness of another sort compels the abandoned Monster to set in motion tragedy after tragedy: the deaths of Frankenstein’s young brother, William, played by Ella Davis ’28; his servant, Justine, played by Madeline Dhindsa-Bonin ’27; his friend, Henry, played by Mason Robins ’26; and his wife, Elizabeth, played by Jacqueline Pan ’26.
“Frankenstein” both frightens and makes a strong argument for empathy and human connection, says O’Connell, who explains that her non-linear storytelling approach required actors willing to listen carefully and work collaboratively, with many actors playing multiple roles and sometimes representing Frankenstein’s thoughts, imagined characters, or idealized versions of his family and friends.
O’Connell’s production also makes clever use of a two-level stage that wraps the audience in the drama. Well-executed choreography transforms scenes on the main level from inside to outdoors, from calm to frenetic, with the turning of bookshelves that become stone walls and twirling metaphors for madness.
Soon plays the role of Frankenstein with energy and a confident delivery, embodying the doctor’s obsession with becoming the first person to bring the dead to life for the good of humankind. Of course, Frankenstein is nothing without his Monster, and here, far from the squared-headed green-skinned zombie figure familiar from the 1931 movie and subsequent retellings, it has a dark, oversized head with eyes that sometimes glow with emotion. The eight-foot-tall puppet designed by Art Teacher Brian Schroyer P’22 takes three actors to operate and voice: Dagny Bischoff ’26 is its ambulatory core; Alexandra Cao ’28 and Molly Smith ’28 operate its arms. In an impressive display of coordination and timing, the Monster is expressive, fearsome and relatable as its sadness turns to rage.
O’Connell finds a parallel between “Frankenstein” and the early days of social media’s rapid development and radical experimentation, with its “move fast and break things” ethos that prioritized speed at the expense of quality, user impact and ethical considerations. In her telling, “Frankenstein” breaks from the novel and is a story without end. “Victor finally takes responsibility and the creature’s misery and isolation are cemented, but the eternal drive onward … does not end,” she explains. “It will be picked up by others. The story will continue, and society will careen forward recklessly in the name of progress.”
