LOS ANGELES MISSION COLLEGE THEATRE ARTS
Bringing professional theatre training and productions to Los Angeles's Northeast Valley since 2015
Frankenstein
FRANKENSTEIN
An original LA Mission College Theatre production
May 16-25, 2025
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Los Angeles Mission College Theatre Arts will present Frankenstein, an original adaptation of the classic novel, for its spring production.
Frankenstein will be presented from May 16-25, 2025 in the LA Mission College AMP Theater. Tickets range from $10-25 and will be on sale through www.lamcstage.com starting on April 14.
Following in the footsteps of previous shows like She Who Was No More and Mr. Grieves and The Vampires, LA Mission College Theatre continues its focus on creating original work with Frankenstein. In this new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic 1818 novel, Professor Robert Cucuzza and a team of students, instructors, and guest artists collaborate to create a theatrical event that pulls one of the original science fiction stories into 2025.
In Frankenstein, Victor becomes obsessed with the intersection of science and spirituality, assembling a human being from parts and bringing it to life. His experiment succeeds, but upon seeing the grotesque being that he has birthed, he abandons his creation, hoping to never encounter it again. The Creature sets off on their own journey of discovery, witnessing from afar the profound generosity of humankind. But when they attempt to enter society, they discover the depths of bigoted cruelty and choose but to become the monster they are deemed to be, launching into a crusade to make their creator pay for their damned existence.
In our rapidly-changing country, where demonization is increasingly accepted, encouraged, ordered, and legislated, Shelley’s classic tale of the causes and effects of othering seems to become more relevent by the day. Battles between what we are born as and who we choose to be are being sparked in every corner of our land—in classrooms and homes, sports fields and churches, school board meets and the halls of Congress, in the Midwest and at the border.
Frankenstein is adapted and directed by Robert Cucuzza, with co-scenic design by Dorothy Hoover and Cucuzza, lighting design by Bri Pattillo, and costume design by Lena Sands. The cast is made of up twelve students, featuring Kevin Khussainov as Victor, and an ensemble of “Shadows”—Nikki Alburo, Carlos Daniel Esquivel, Drea Felix-Gonzalez, Juda Gonzalez, Matthew Gutierrez, Diana Jimenez, Natalie Lemus, Diana Martinez, Porter McFadden, Casey Padilla, and Jude Rivas—who play all the other roles, as well as The Creature.
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CAST
Victor
KEVIN KHUSSAINOV
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Shadows (ensemble)
NIKKI ALBURO
CARLOS DANIEL ESQUIVEL
ANDREA FELIX-GONZALEZ
JUDA GONZALEZ
MATTHEW GUTIERREZ
NATALIE LEMUS
DIANA JIMENEZ
DIANA MARTINEZ
PORTER McFADDEN
CASEY PADILLA
JUDE RIVAS
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CREATIVE TEAM
Playwright/Director
ROBERT CUCUZZA
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Co-Scenic and Props Designers
ROBERT CUCUZZA/DOROTHY HOOVER*
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Lighting Designer
BRI PATTILLO*
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Costume Designer
LENA SANDS*​
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PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer ROBERT CUCUZZA
Stage Manager SHARAI BRAVO
​Intimacy Director/Movement Coach MARY ZASTROW
Assistant Stage Manager ALI BERRERA
Assistant Director IVAN HERNANDEZ
Assistant Scenic Designer AMANDA LOA
Sound Designer ROBERT CUCUZZA
Assistant Sound Designer ANTHONY-MICHAEL HERRERA
Production Manager/Technical Director AARON BLOKKER*
Costume Supervisor KITTY MURPHY-YOUNGS**
Costume Team KIARA CABAN, KELSEY CASAMALHUAPA
Associate Lighting Designer/Master Electrician MAILE VARIAN
Scenic Painter JESSIE ANNA WILTON​
Build Team JULIANA GARCIA, EMMANUEL GARCIA, DANIELLE JOHNSON, MICHELLE MARTEL, SHILOH PELAYO, ALEJANDRA VELAZQUEZ
* LA Mission College faculty or staff
** Guest Artist​​​​​
María Irene Fornés (Havana, Cuba/New York City, 1930-2018)
Biography by Anne García-Romero from "Fifty Key Figures in Latin American and Latinx Theatre," edited by Paola Hernández and Analola Santana (Routledge, 2022)
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María Irene Fornés, considered by many to be the mother of Latinx playwriting, was an influential and award-winning playwright, director, and teacher. Born in Havana, Cuba, Fornés, the youngest of six children, immigrated to the United States in 1945 with her sister Margarita, and mother Carmen, a former schoolteacher. Earlier that year, her father Carlos, a low-level bureaucrat in Cuba’s civil service, died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-three. Fornés and her sister were raised by their mother in New York City, where she resided for the rest of her life. Fornés wrote and directed more than fifty plays that were produced throughout the United States and internationally including in Cuba, Peru, England, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and India. Tango Palace (1963) was her first produced play and Letters from Cuba (2000) was her final play. She won an unprecedented nine Obie Awards and her play, What Of The Night? (1990) was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Fornés eschewed identity politics yet her work has been described as feminist, Latinx, lesbian, and avant gardist. She was also an influential educator, teaching playwriting across the US, and especially through her founding of the Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Lab (HPRL 1981-1992), at International Arts Relations (INTAR), a New York City theatre committed to producing works by Latinx writers, where she trained many celebrated Latinx playwrights of the late twentieth century. During her final years, Fornés suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and was cared for by family, friends, former students, and colleagues, while she resided at the Amsterdam House in New York City, where she died in 2018. Her later years are poignantly captured in the award-winning documentary film, The Rest I Make Up (2018), directed by Michelle Memran.
Letters From Cuba information
Please read the following important information.
DURATION
The show runs 65 minutes with no intermission.
AGE ADVISORY
Unless specified as “children’s theatre,” which this show definitely is not, kids under ten are generally too restless and unpredictable to attend. No matter how interesting you think it may be for your toddler, they will get restless and make sudden sounds and movements that are distracting to both the actors and audience.
CONTENT ADVISORY
Although Letters From Cuba contains adult themes, there is nothing in the production that should offend the average audience member.
PLEASE ARRIVE AHEAD OF TIME
We start our shows on time. Entering the theater after the show has begun can disturb both the audience and actors. Make sure that you arrive at the box office no later than 15 minutes before show time.
TRAFFIC ADVISORY
If you are attending a Thursday or Friday performance, we strongly urge you to leave extra time to arrive before showtime. There is often excessive traffic on both freeways and local roads on those days.
LOCATION ADDRESS
Los Angeles Mission College
13356 Eldridge Avenue
Sylmar, CA 91342
THE AMP THEATER
The AMP Theater is located in the Arts, Media & Performance building, next to the parking structure.
PARKING
Free of charge, in the parking structure or on Eldridge Street.
BOX OFFICE
The box office opens one hour before show time.
CELL PHONES, PICTURES AND VIDEOS
Cell phone usage of any kind is absolutely prohibited during the show. The light from screens is distracting not only for your neighbors, but especially for the actors. Photographs or video recordings of the show are also prohibited.