Story by Jocilyn Stackis / Inform Muncie
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in October, 2022.
Combining love, drama, and action, the Muncie Civic Center presented The Hunchback of Notre Dame from October 7-23. Directed by Brittany M. Covert, the play starred Kyle Thomas as Quasimodo, Cameron Clevenger as his voice, Michael Williamson as Frollo, and Elizabeth Belle as Esmeralda. With one of the main characters being hard of hearing, the play provided an ASL translation throughout the show as well as a singing voice for Quasimodo.
The play opened with dim lights, smoke, and the cast dressed in grey medieval robes singing an eerie harmony while walking down both isles of the audience. The setting is Paris during the 15th century. The story centered around Quasimodo, a deformed gypsy child that Frollo “saved”. Raising Quasimodo, Frollo drilled into his mind that he was monstrous and needed to be protected from the outside world. Although he was nervous, Quasimodo wanted to live a life beyond the bell tower Frollo kept him sanctioned. He dreamed of finding love. Eventually leaving the bell tower, Quasimodo meets a gypsy named Esmeralda and becomes infatuated with her. Surprisingly, so does Frodo. Quasimodo’s fight for freedom and love made this play as interesting as it was.
A theme found within the play was the concept of what it meant to be a monster. Quasimodo was considered “monstrous”, by Frodo for his physical appearance, however, Frodo was the monster in my eyes. Constantly verbally and physically abusing Quasimodo, along with trying to arrest gypsies and force Esmeralda to love him. He did everything out of selfishness and never stopped to think about the people he was affecting.
Overall, I enjoyed this play a lot. I had never seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame before and enjoyed the story along with the acting done by the Muncie Civic Center. The ASL portion of the play was a unique factor the Center incorporated that diversified the play and potentially broadened the audience.
All Inform Muncie articles are written by students in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication in a classroom environment with a faculty advisor.
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