Theater Presents: The Frogs (2026)

by Isla Salgado, photo by Isla Salgado

Held in the makerspace, The Frogs is a play written by Greek writer Aristophanes. The story centers around Dionysus, the god of wine and drama as he travels to the underworld along with his fretful servant Xanthas in order to rescue the playwright, Euripides from the underworld. The play takes a humorous tone, especially since Dionysus is given the disguise of his sibling, Hercules (who is dressed Disney-style) in order to enter the formidable doors of the dead.

Rather than a stage, The Frogs was performed in the STEM Makerspace while the main stage in the caféteria is under renovation. So, while the play missed the classic feel of a stage play, it made room for more character and crowd interactions such as when Xanthias whines, because of Dionysus’ order to carry his belongings. The character blames a variety of people and then points to an audience member and says: “I blame you too, kid!” and exits through a side door. The “stage” itself had cardboard cut outs of flames in order to mimic an inferno. A large tv screen in the makerspace projected Greek cities or flames to set the scene. Doors on both sides of the “stage” were employed so that the cast could shift through scenes.

One thing that I most definitely have to rave about are the costumes, particularly the masks. The masks are very well made and I especially enjoyed Hades’ mask as it was haunting. If the masks were created by the stagecraft students, then they have definitely done a great job. Those masks looked polished and gorgeous!

All in all, The Frogs was a silly play with great props and fun characters.  While it missed the “grand” feeling of a theater, it was a fun and engaging watch.