Hunchback of Notre Dame

Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is one of the great classics of world literature. It has been filmed many times, turned into operas and stage extravaganzas. Whatever the format, it is always a crowd pleaser. This exciting dramatization by Tim Kelly, one of America's most popular playwrights, captures the essence of the famous original. It brings to life on the stage some of the most memorable fictional characters ever created: the pitiable but good-hearted bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasimodo; the vain, handsome Captain Phoebus; the villainous Frollo; the temperamental poet, Pierre Gringoire (Hugo himself, no doubt); the colorful Beggars of Paris, and the beautiful, innocent, naive gypsy, Esmeralda, whom they all love. The famous settings of the novel are also here, but in a manner that negates the necessity of pauses for scene changes. With simple shifts in lighting and with the addition or removal of simple set props—carried on and off by the characters—the audience sees the rollicking Festival of Fools; the notorious Court of Miracles, where the blind see and the lame walk; the murder of Captain Phoebus; the lashing of Quasimodo on the pillory and the rescue of Esmeralda from her place of execution on a charge of witchcraft. The play ends on an upbeat note without the tragic denouement of the novel. Here, for actors and audiences of teenagers and adults, is a significant and entertaining look at Victor Hugo's famous story.