FRANKENSTEIN or a modern prometheus

BY ZOE SENESE-GROSSBERG, AFTER MARY SHELLEY

Victor Frankenstein is on the run from himself. Tormented by conflicting desires for his fiancé and best friend, and terrified of the weakness of his vessel, he resolves to build something better, stronger, and purer than humanity. This tight, erotically charged adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is performed by four actors and scored by live electric guitar.

content warnings: strobe lighting, loud sound, and mature content including full-frontal nudity, simulated sex, violence, and gore.

FEATURING: Sophie Falvey, Kamau Nosakhere, Benny Rendell, and Eli Wasserztug
SWING: Adelynn Anderson

CREATIVE TEAM:
Writer Director: Zoe Senese-Grossberg
Composer/Guitarist: Wyatt Camery
Production Manager: Leo Lion
Production Stage Manager: Jenna Baker Morrissey
Assistant Stage Manager: niqo torrez
Scenic, SFX, Prop, and Costume Design: Katie Homer-Drummond and Max Romanov
Puppet Design: Rae Bell
Lighting Designer: Alex Nemfakos
Intimacy Director: Maeve Hogan

Poster photo by Lijah Schneider

CAST BIOS

Sophie Falvey - Victor Frankenstein
Sophie (they/them) is a New York based actor, writer, and teaching artist. New York theater credits include Comedy of Errors and The Oresteia (Gallery Players), Boy My Greatness, if I live until I be a man, The Seagull, RUR, Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom (Firebird Players), The Dream (Columbia University), Low Stakes (Frigid New York), and Horsegirls (Homemade Jean Shorts), Abbie’s Mom Had Cancer (Murmuration Theater Co.), Revolution 10 (Purple Light Productions). Oberlin College theater credits include The Moors, At the End of the World, Hamlet, and Orlando.

Kamau Nosakhere - Henry Clerval
Kamau Nosakhere (any) is a Florida-born, Barbadian, New York-based actor and writer.  Commencing his final semester at Fordham University, Kamau is seeking a double major in Theatre (Performance) and English with a concentration in Creative Writing. He prioritizes bringing a very humble, cooperative mindset to every process of which he is a part. As someone who has worked in many different facets of the theatrical world, he is very flexible when it comes to the spaces in which he can work and operate. Additionally, because of the collaborative nature of his education, he is very comfortable communicating with others with different positions or backgrounds than myself.  As an actor, he longs to see what aspect of the world he can impact and then allow to evolve through his life on stage.  He hopes to bring the audience along with him on that journey as much as possible.  His credits include: Regional: Sunday In Sodom/Parsifal (Isaac/Ostrich), Cabaret (Male Ensemble Swing). New York Theatre: Troilus and Cressida (Hector), Who’d Love Lucy? (Lover 2). Fordham MainStage: Kentucky (Adam), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute/egeus/Mustardseed), Aulis (Achilles). Fordham Studio: And This Is Where We (Jules), Jump (Dad), Constructed Realities (Devised).

Benny Rendell - The Creature
Benny (he/him) has performed in many shows with Firebird, including Boy My Greatness, RUR, and as Romeo in their NYA award-winning production of Romeo and Juliet. He has trained at Lee Strasberg, H.B Studio, and the Shakespeare company New Genesis Productions, where he played roles such as Hamlet, Brutus, and Benedick. Benny co-teaches Firebird’s Movie-Masters class and is currently studying Filmmaking and Cinema Studies at Tisch NYU.

Eli Wassertzug - Elizabeth Lavenza
Eli (they/them) is an NYC-based actor and singer originally from the DC area with a BA in Drama from Vassar College. They are a resident artist with The Firebird Project, a member of the Artists Advisory Committee for Notch Theatre Company, and a summer teaching artist for Traveling Players Ensemble; they have also recently appeared in the city with The Players Theatre and No Exit Theatre Collective. Eli aims to create inclusive, collaborative, and spectacular theater that challenges entrenched systems of power, especially gender. (eliwassertzug.com)

Adelynn Anderson - Swing
Adelynn Anderson (he/they) is an actor/writer/director originally from Philadelphia and now based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He studied with Playwrights Horizons Theater School and the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Insitute through NYU Tisch (BFA ’22). Recent performance credits include the ensemble of “daemon” (NYU), Antonio in “Twelfth Night” (Foul Fiend Theatre Troupe) and Much the Miller’s Son in “Nottingham” (FFTT). He is thrilled to be making his Firebird debut! (@adelynn.rose)

CREATIVE TEAM BIOS

Zoe Senese-Grossberg - Writer/Director
Zoe (she/her) is a New York based writer and director. As an artist, Zoe is attracted to intimate relationships but grand stories. Much of her work are multi-hour epics revolving around historic subject matter ranging in time periods from Jacobean England to the near future. Themes are often around Jewish identity and diaspora, queerness, gender, coming of age, and human sexuality. She is fascinated by what turns people on and pulls them apart. Recent work includes: BOY MY GREATNESS (world premiere March 2024, regional tour September 2024), if i live until i be a man (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2024), Bedfellows (Finalist for the Rootstock Reading Series), and Frankenstein (world premiere March 2025). Her play Lay The Bent To The Bonny Broom is a current finalist for the National Jewish Play Project. Zoe is the current associate artistic director of the Firebird Project. Her playwriting has received recognition from organizations such as the Eugene O’Neill Center, Penguin Random House, Good Apples Collective, WP Theater, and YoungArts. She is also a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. (zoesenesegrossberg.com)

Alex Nemfakos - Lighting Designer
Alex is thrilled to be working on her second production with the Firebird team after working as the lighting designer of Boy My Greatness. Currently she is designing Matilda Jr. with the British International School of New York. Recent credits include multiple designs with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s Extension Program and ALD of Glow Holiday Light Show. She holds a dual BA in Theatrical Design and Technology and Anthropology.

Katie Homer-Drummond - SFX Design
Katie (they/them) is a New York-based artist originally from upstate South Carolina. They graduated from Oberlin College in 2022 with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Cinema studies. They have written, directed, and art-directed two twenty-five minute short-films (Boys Who Fly on Gilded Wings & Wolf Girl), and designed multiple sets for the Oberlin College theater department (Warsaw Melody, Orlando, Next to Normal, Hamlet, & Shayna Punim). Previous credits with Firebird include makeup and costume design for R.U.R., and makeup and set design for The Seagull, Boy My Greatness, and If I Live Until I Be A Man.

Maximilian Romanov - Costumes/Props Design
Maximillian (he/him) is an NYC born and based multimedia artist doing props and costumes. He has a BA in Film from Bard College and is a frequent collaborator with Phoenix and Firebird productions.

Jenna Baker Morrissey - Production Stage Manager
JB (she/her) is a NYC-based stage manager and theatre artist from upstate New York, and is thrilled to be joining Firebird for her first season as Production Manager. She received her B.A. in Theatre Studies from SUNY New Paltz in 2021. Recent credits include JANUARY with Multistages/The Femme Collective (ASM), BOY MY GREATNESS with The Firebird Project (SM), The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Delivery Boy with Kitchen Sink Theatre Company (SM), The Woodlands and Clara & Carmilla at NYTF (SM), (t)RUST at The Tank (SM), and BLOOM BLOOM POW at A.R.T./NY (ASM). Jenna has amassed over 5 million likes across Youtube and TikTok, and is ⅓ of the podcast Feminine Features where she discusses a different "chick flick" each week. (linktr.ee/jbmorrissey)

niqo torrez - Assistant Stage Manager
niqo torrez (they/them) is a movement-driven director/dramaturg currently based in brooklyn, ny. recent credits include Town Hall [director, suny new paltz], The Woodlands, Clara & Carmilla [director, nytf], And a Child Shall Lead [director, waterwell @ ppas], The Spitfire Grill [ad, vanguard theatre company], House of Bernarda Alba [dramaturg, gallery players]. currently, they are very excited to be a part of the inaugural ‘chick magnet’ play incubator with dyke theatre company, and to continue creating deliciously queer productions. join them at torreztheatre.com.

Leo Lion - Producer
Leo (they/he/she) is a director, teaching artist, and producer from Brooklyn, and the founding Artistic Director of The Firebird Project. Leo also serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Phoenix Theatre Ensemble and heads their PlayCoop New Works Incubator, a home for new storytelling forms like ARG and RPG. Recent directing credits include METAMORPHOSIS, Wind in the Willows and Scandalton: LIVE with Phoenix. Trouble Feature, Rossum's Universal Robots and The Snow Queen with Firebird, and Midsummer DICE Dream with Dacha Theatre in Seattle. As a teaching artist, Leo leads workshops in improv, playwriting, and RPG storytelling. As a genderqueer first-gen immigrant, Leo seeks to create work that explores nebulous identities, placelessness, and unconventional methods of meaning-making. (leolion.com / @whosleolion)

ABOUT THE FIREBIRD PROJECT

The Firebird Project is an NYC-based theatre production and education company that shines a new light on classical narratives. Since 2013, Firebird has produced original theatre productions that reworked well-known stories like Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, and The Seagull, with a goal to present the myths you know and love in ways you’ve never seen them before. We also offer year-round arts education workshops & classes for teen artists, including acting, improv, playwriting, filmmaking, and roleplaying games. Both our production and education wings emphasize lasting diverse and multidisciplinary community, artistic and intellectual curiosity, and a critical approach to the classical canon.

More info at www.thefirebirdproject.org