The Wayne State College theatre department program plans to present its fall performance “Frankenstein” from October 3 through October 6 in Ramsey Theatre at the Peterson Fine Arts Performing Center.

Director of the show, Jeanne Tiehen, feels pleased so far at how the play is turning out.

“We’re only in our second week, so it’s pretty early on,” Tiehen said. “But we have a big cast of people, and everyone’s excited to jump into the play right away.”

The play acts as an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel and follows Victor Frankenstein. While struggling to recover from a serious loss, Frankenstein explores the concept of immortality by creating a monster.

After rejecting his own creation, Frankenstein finds himself paying the price in ways he never could imagine. Freshman Jack Osnes acts as Frankenstein, and senior Ben Bjorklund plays Frankenstein’s creation.

Assistant director Skyler Stefanski believes that the dedication required for theatre is worth it.

“I like to go between the directors and students,” Stefanski said. “I like the fact that I get to work with both the actors and the crew to make the play the best I possibly can.”

Although the road to success in any theatre production is not easy, it is manageable with the right crew.

“I really love the story of Frankenstein, so you kind of need to be okay with the fact that the play is going to take a slightly different direction than maybe what you thought of in your mind,” Tiehen said.

“I also think it’s a big cast,” Tiehen said. “That always comes with the challenges of theatre. If there’s going to be sixteen people at rehearsal, you want to make sure you’re giving attention to everyone a little bit, so that no one feels like they’re wasting their time.”

With a large cast of 24 speaking roles and an even larger ensemble, more experienced theatre members stepped up to set the standard for incoming freshmen.

“That’s always the hard part,” Tiehen said. “It’s always sort of that moment of ‘What do we do now?’ The nice thing about theatre is that there’s always new people that come in the door.

“There’s sometimes juniors and seniors that didn’t have the chance to audition before, and they want to do it now.”

Stefanski also felt engaging with the new theatre participants is a priority.

“One of the big things we have is trying to figure out when people need to be there,” Stefanski said. “It’s a matter of making sure communication is smooth. Communication is key to making things work.”

The cast and crew of “Frankenstein” will open from October 3 to October 6. With Halloween season approaching, the WSC theatre department program hopes to stage a performance as scary as Frankenstein’s rejected creation. The beast is waiting to be unleashed!