An exploration of grief, ‘A Monster Calls' opens on stage in Huntington Beach

Los Angeles Times

01-05-2025

The monster in the new Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts production of 'A Monster Calls' continually bothers young Conor O'Malley.
'Stories are important, if they convey the truth,' the monster tries to reason with Conor at one point.
The truth is, the story showcased in the play is one of loss and grief. Conor has to cope with the fact that his mom is getting more and more sick, dealing with cancer and chemotherapy.
'The whole show is about time, and time just goes,' director Jenny McClintock said. 'You think you have enough, but it just goes and goes. When you want to stop time, you just cannot.'
'A Monster Calls,' based on the 2011 novel by Patrick Ness, debuts Thursday night for four shows this weekend at the historic Huntington Beach Union High School District auditorium. It will likely be deeply personal for some patrons.
Huntington Beach High School sophomore Antonio Lopez, who was double-cast as Conor along with Izzy Vosper, feels the connection with the character he is portraying.
Lopez said he lost his own mother, Heather, to breast cancer last August, before he even knew anything about this production.
'It's been nice coming to terms, in a way, with the things that have happened in my life with this show,' he said. 'But it's also been pretty difficult … Throughout the play, his mom gets gradually more sick, and he has to deal with the fact that he's losing her. He wants his pain to go away, but she's the one who's giving him his pain. It's this emotional journey of him trying to let go, but also trying so hard to desperately hold onto the things that make him happy.'
The two-hour play, presented by the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts is set in contemporary times. That's not an accident for McClintock, in her fourth year as HBAPA faculty. Her first year, the students performed Shakespeare, then a Greek production, then a modern play and now this year's show, which is contemporary.
The cycle will repeat again starting next year, she said.
'I want to expose them to all of theater, so that they have that experience going into college,' she said. 'This is contemporary, and it's very contemporary. The way it's staged is contemporary, it's very abstract. The actors never leave the stage. I might be a pupil at your school in one scene, and now I'm actually acting out your anger in kind of an abstract, physical way. It's unique, and they've embraced it.'
Chairs sit on each side of the stage, ready to be put in formation depending on what the scene calls for. McClintock, who lost her own father to cancer when she was an adult, called the stage barren and empty. That symbolizes the grief the character Conor is going through as the condition of his mother, played by Robin McClure and Bianca Stratta, continues to worsen.
The theme extends to the costume color choices of muted beige and also red, which can symbolize nightmares. Conor is visited each night by a large yew tree that transforms into a monster.
'For the makeup, we tied in a lot of the beige,' said Huntington Beach High senior Alessandra Pham, a hair and makeup designer. 'We usually don't use such heavy eye shadow on the men, but we used a lot of gold and browns. Even the boys have all of this gold glitter, so it kind of just flows throughout the cast.'
Costume designer Rhonda Choat, aided by her daughter and HBAPA alumna Tara, said six professional-grade bald caps were purchased to put on the mother after she undergoes chemotherapy, as well as eight cheaper bald caps. The more expensive caps, reserved for the show itself rather than rehearsals, take 45 minutes to an hour to put on properly.
Cameron Mullin, a Huntington Beach High junior who was double-cast as the monster along with Benjamin Marshall, said she sees the monster as representative of not only Conor's grief, but also Conor himself.
'I like to think of it as Conor in the future trying to tell past Conor that it's OK to be ashamed with how you feel,' Mullin said. 'It's OK to have these feelings, you just need to be able to tell the truth. As soon as you tell the truth, you'll be able to face whatever comes, you'll be able to move on.'
Audrey Cone, a HBHS junior who did the sound design, said the show may be a bit scary but it's important to see, especially for teenagers.
'Not a lot of teens get to see us dealing with grief and just being so open about it,' she said.
In another personal touch, McClintock cast her own twin children as 'young Conor.'
Part of the show proceeds are going to Fran's Place Center for Cancer Counseling, based in Brea.
For tickets to 'A Monster Calls,' visit hbapa.org/see.