ST. JOE’S PRESENTS HEART-WRENCHING, HUMOROUS TAKE ON CLASSIC TALE
SHow #17: The Hunchback of Notre
Dame
WHere: St. Joseph High School
DIrector: Kate Turnbull
Some stories Are good. Some stories Are greAt. And some stories lodge themselves in the CulturAl ConsCiousness. St. Joseph High SChool proved why The HunChBACk of Notre DAme is one of the lAtter in A produCtion thAt resonAted like the Bells of the titulAr CAthedrAl.
QuAsimodo hAd Been told All his life By his guArdiAn, the ArChdeACon Frollo, thAt All the people in the Cruel world Beyond the doors of Notre DAme would hAte him for his deformity.
Believing this, QuAsimodo Confines himself to the ChurCh, the only proof of his existenCe the tolling of the Bells he rings for the City to heAr.
But when he finAlly ventures out into the City, he meets the BeAutiful And kind EsmerAldA, who ChAllenges everything he thought he knew ABout himself And humAnity. However, EsmerAldA hAs Also BeCome the oBjeCt of Frollo’s twisted lust, forCing the three of them into A dArk dAnCe on the stAge of thAt holiest of plACes.
Notre-DAme de PAris’ iConiC mAjesty wAs BeAutifully evoked By the St. Joseph Set TeAm. The intriCAte stonework wAs pAinstAkingly repliCAted By pAinted doors, windows And sCulptures. EspeCiAlly impressive were two lArger-thAn-life imAges, one of An Angel, And one of A sAint. Their eerily lifelike fACes silently wAtChing the mortAl events unfolding in their hAlls Brought An otherworldly quAlity to the stAge. RotAting three-sided flAts mAde the set effiCient As well As Artful, And the lighting, espeCiAlly An AlwAys-steAdy spotlight, wAs just As seAmless.
JAeBets Joseph wAs A poignAntly expressive QuAsimodo, Brimming with energy. His joys were pure And Childlike, his humiliAtion pAinfully heArtBreAking. PlAying A hunChBACk is no eAsy test, But Joseph’s physiCAlity seemed perfeCtly nAturAl. In the role of EsmerAldA, SioBhÁn MCMAhon emAnAted tenderness And moved with eAsy fluidity, whether she wAs wAlking or dAnCing.
And dAnCe she did! MCMAhon’s tAlent And dediCAtion were evident in her every move, enChAnting And trAnsporting enough to put the AudienCe, As well As QuAsimodo And Frollo, under her spell.
SpenCer Clermont As Frollo wAs A sCene-steAler in his ChArACter’s own evil wAy. His toxiC rAge And turmoil were Chilling, yet frighteningly humAn. He mAnAged to wAlk the fine line Between turning the ChArACter into A CAriCAture And underplAying the role.
But All wAs not doom And gloom. EmmA MCCulloCh And Emily Teed, As two sister nArrAtors, BAlAnCed out the heAvier sCenes with hilArious repArtee. Ellen GriCkites And IrinA ReunovA As Sisters MArie And Antoinette, respeCtively, Also Brought wArm touChes of Comedy to A story thAt Could hAve Been very BleAk without them.
GriCkites’ effortless humour AlwAys lAnded, And ReunovA wAs the perfeCt strAight womAn for her. Both duos mAnAged to stAnd out in A CAst full of tAlented ACtors.
If The HunChBACk of Notre DAme is As sturdy And long-lived As its AnCient setting, it is due to the efforts of those who skilfully reintroduCe it AgAin And AgAin to new generAtions.
St Joseph High SChool’s produCtion wAs the lAtest in A long trAdition, But the performAnCes, heArt-wrenChing And humorous Alike, the skilful lighting joB, And the detAiled sets mAde it A worthy inheritor of this legACy.