Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN Opens Next Month at The Sedgwick Theatre

Quintessence Theatre Group, Philadelphia's newest Equity theatre, launches its ninth season of progressive classic theatre with a world premiere adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Quintessence joins the 200th anniversary celebration of one of the world's greatest horror stories with an original adaptation of Shelley's timely tale of humanity's obsession with knowledge and of the unintended consequences of scientific innovation. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, 19119. To purchase tickets, visit www.QTGrep.org or call 215.987.4450.

After losing his mother to scarlet fever, Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist, buries himself in his studies to discover the source of life. At the university he secretly builds a human out of stolen corpses and succeeds in bringing life to the body, but he is horrified by the ugliness of his creation and what he perceives to be its innate evil. Abandoned, "the monster" sets on a quest to find love and to exact revenge on its creator.

Following his celebrated performance in Sleuth at the Fulton Theatre, Michael Zlabinger makes his Philadelphia debut as the troubled genius Victor Frankenstein. His Monster is played by Philadelphia favorite and Barrymore Award winning actor Jake Blouch (The Wind in the Willows). People's Light ensemble member Kevin Bergen (Uncle Vanya) returns to Quintessence as Victor's father, New York's Titan Theatre resident actor Leah Gabriel (Mother Courage) returns to Philadelphia as Caroline Frankenstein, Hannah Wolff returns as Victor's betrothed Elizabeth Lavenza, and Quintessence ensemble member and Artistic Associate Lee Cortopassi is Victor's best friend Henry Clerval.

Following Quintessence's celebrated adaptation of Dumas' The Three Musketeers, Quintessence Artistic Director Alexander Burns returns to adaptation to unleash Mary Shelley's soaring prose on the stage, seeking to exploit the story's romantic poetry and gothic horror. Celebrated American theatre designer Brian Sidney Bembridge (Faustus, Saint Joan, Off Broadway's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) returns to Quintessence to create the Shelley's world through sets and lights. Resident costume designer Jane Casanave creates the costumes for Shelley's heroes and heroines. Barrymore nominee Daniel Ison (Julius Caesar, Wilde Tales) composes an original score to establish the psychological drama. And Curtis Coyote joins the creative team to create the corpses, monsters and horror of Mary Shelley's fantasy.

Founded in 2009, award-winning Quintessence Theatre Group uses the classics to explore the fundamental question of what it is to be human in today's world. Through intimate, visceral, and innovative productions of epic theatre, Quintessence pursues its vision to become the Delaware Valley's center for progressive humanism and an engine for radical empathy through the classics.

Quintessence's home is the historic Sedgwick Theater, an Art Deco movie palace designed in 1928 by William Lee and located in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION & PARKING: The Sedgwick Theater is readily accessible via SEPTA Regional Rail to either the Allen Lane Station (Chestnut Hill West) or the Sedgwick Station (Chestnut Hill East). The SEPTA 23/45 Bus also services the Sedgwick Theater, connecting South Philadelphia to Chestnut Hill. Free parking is available behind the theatre and in the municipal parking lot across Germantown Avenue.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: A variety of subscription packages are on sale now. Subscribers save up to 35% on the cost of tickets and may exchange tickets up to 24 hours before the performance. To purchase a subscription, visit www.QTGrep.org or call 215.987.4450, Ext. 1.

GROUP SALES & STUDENT MATINEES: Group rates and special weekday student matinees are available. For information on group sales, please call 215.987.4450, Ext. 1, or email BoxOffice@QTGrep.org.

RUSH TICKETS: $10 rush tickets for industry professionals and students with ID are available at the box office one hour before performances, pending availability.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN: The first preview of Frankenstein on September 26 is a Pay What You Can performance (PWYC). In season IX, Quintessence will offer ten PWYC tickets to every performance. Daily PWYC tickets become available at the box office one hour before the performance on a first come first serve basis. There is a limit of one ticket per person.

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