“Who is this Count of Monte Cristo, Debray? Italian? French? I’ve never heard of him.” An oddly appropriate quotation summed up the early stages of ACSian Theatre’s end-of-year production, The Count of Monte Cristo. One of the French writer Alexandre Dumas’ most prolific works, The Count of Monte Cristo was performed by ACSian Theatre from the 27th to the 29th of November 2009. Despite being relatively unknown to the first-year thespians of ACSian Theatre, the company was quickly mesmerized by the epic tale of romance, intrigue, and vengeance. Monte Cristo is the story of Edmond Dantes, a young sailor whose fall from grace is orchestrated by a quartet of jealous conspirators. Imprisoned in the notorious Chateau d’ If, all hope seems lost for Dantes, when he is bequeathed the secret of the Spada treasure by a dying priest. Determined to avenge himself, he escapes from prison, using his newfound wealth to be reborn as a “hammer of God” – the Count of Monte Cristo.

Transforming a bare stage into a vivid picture of 17th century France soon proved to be a daunting task, as the first-years soon found out. As they were still wet behind the ears, suddenly being at the helm of a production without the help of their seniors was a jarring transition. But even in the face of a myriad of problems, the first-years rose to the occasion to the best of their ability, supported constantly by our directors, Mrs. Geetha Creffield and Miss Michelle Wong. Arguably the area that required the most work was posture – the ubiquitous 21st century slouch had to be replaced with romantic-era French poise and grace. The cast had to undergo rigorous physical conditioning to tone their bodies into shape, as well as get their posture used to the unfamiliar dance form of waltz. But the watchful eye of Mr. Filomar Tariao, our choreographer, ensured that ACSian Theatre had only the best to offer to the audience. The wardrobe team spent countless hours painstakingly sewing and tailoring the exquisite costumes of the Parisian nouveau riche, continuing to soldier on despite many pricked fingers, and the crewing department had to recreate the intricacy of French architecture, not stopping till every chandelier was nary a hair out of place. Slowly but steadily, the ticketing team sent sales soaring skyward, filling the seats of the Faith CPA with an eager audience.

Just as Edmond Dantes metamorphosed from a humble sailor into a nobleman of prestige, ACSian Theatre too evolved from a motley crew of inexperienced JC1 students into a cohesive community of thespians. ACSian Theatre would like to offer their thanks to all who supported The Count of Monte Cristo, and most importantly, to God, who made the entire production possible.