A.D.A.M- The Modern Frankenstein, is an exciting new play performed by LSU Stage Society. Label caught up with director and writer of the production, Lewis Wood, to find out a little more about the play pre-performance!
When writing A.D.A.M, what was your main inspiration?
At the Edinburgh Fringe, you find that there’s a lot of strange adaptations of shows. When writing my own production, I wanted to use a link to an established and popular piece of work to test my own ability. The main inspiration came from my own experiences. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder myself, and find that theatre is a fantastic platform to discuss issues both personal and pervasive throughout people, so I decided to include areas of myself within the text.
What exactly does A.D.A.M stand for?
Artificial Database for Administrations and Management, clever isn’t it?
Very! When you came to casting were there any specific characteristics you were looking for in the actors that auditioned for main roles?
For most parts, we were looking for strong actors who also had the ability to multirole, as there’s a strong element of this within the show. For Victor and Adam, the casting process was somewhat different – Victor is a difficult character to portray due to his constant compulsions and ticks, and Adam is obviously complex from an actor’s perspective due to his inhuman nature at the beginning of the play in particular. Both roles require a ridiculous level of focus, and Charlie and Tolly both bring this to the rehearsal process.
Were there any challenges with props/ staging that you had to overcome in the rehearsal process?
A.D.A.M uses a minimalist staging, meaning that this has been relatively easy set wise – I always find that this is the way to go for student productions with very little budget. The main issue with props was creating a bed. A lot of the play focuses around sleep, and we see Victor in bed struggling with his compulsive sleeping routine. For this, Saskia (co-director) and I struggled with various ideas on how to create a bed that would still be visible onstage, as well as easy to get on and off.
How long did the script take you to write?
It took me about a month to get through the first draft, however the entire process took a lot longer than that. The script itself is constantly adapting throughout rehearsals, as I firmly believe that the cast should use it as a guide. In terms of my actual writing, I finished the final draft about a week before auditions, but I wouldn’t say that a script is ever really finished.
Why should people come and watch?
I guess people will have to come to find out our ultimate decision! Loughborough is not known for drama. Any time I tell people I go here, they instantly ask me what my sport is. However within Stage Society, there’s such a fantastic opportunity for people to get involved in something different, and there’s some amazing productions put on. A.D.A.M is a new and exciting piece of work (though I might be slightly biased!), and I genuinely believe that it will be a great experience for people at this university who want to spend their evening doing something a little bit different. I’ve also made sure throughout the writing process to include large elements of comedy, so people shouldn’t feel put off by the idea of “going to the theatre”, as I’m sure it’ll be fun for everyone in the audience.
You can go and see A.D.A.M- The Modern Frankenstein in the Fearon Hall on the 7th, 8th and 9th of May at 7.30pm.
Hattie Anderson
