Nineteen-year-old author Mary Shelley’s gothic horror tale ‘Frankenstein' has captivated audiences around the world since it was first published in 1818, when readers were equally thrilled and terrified by the power of her macabre tale.
Now playing at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, this faithful reenactment by shake & stir Theatre Company manages the delicate balance of staying relatively true to the source while breathing fresh life into the production and incorporating that modern day monster, AI technology, throughout.
As in the original text, it is begins with a series of flashbacks as told by Dr Frankenstein as a cautionary tale of loss and woe. It pointedly references the sense of wonder and dread that existed during the era that it was created – on the brink of the Industrial Age. In that era, society was threatened by rapid change through breakthroughs in machine technology. And here, in 2024, we eye the emergence of AI technology, as we collectively weigh whether it will be a devastating monster that will destroy creative work by human beings or present a great new tool the we can harness for assistance.
The opening scene finds a moribund Dr Victor Frankenstein in delicate mental health as he tells his tale of woe and misadventure. He is on a mission, searching the world for his creation in hopes of putting a final end to his epic experiment in reanimation. His monster has spiralled out of his control and has created a path of death and devastation in his travels.
Darcy Brown stalks the stage as the brooding and mad doctor and does an excellent job of simultaneously loving and loathing his monster, mourning the hell he has inadvertently unleashed on the world.
Image © Joel Devereux
Jeremiah Wray seizes his role as the creature with purpose and command. His strong performance encapsulates and portrays the struggle of what might have been if he was not so 'other', as he deftly shape-shifts between being a miracle of science and wonder into a truly pitiful example of loneliness and abandonment by his creator. It is to Wray’s credit that the audience feels such empathy for an ultimately maniacal and vengeful beast.
In particular Chloe Zuel as Frankenstein’s wife (and also as his brother in other scenes) is a wonder – mesmerising and humane.
It is down to the very fine direction and acting in this production that the audience finds the characters equal parts believable, compelling and terrifying.
Must mentions include the drama created by the exemplary soundscape and the choreography of the monster’s birth. This scene is utterly without peer in its physicality and is almost excruciating to witness – a visceral and traumatic portrayal of first flailing steps upon the creature’s entrance into the world. It is without a doubt the most spectacular scene in a production that is full of great scenes and big moments. Lovers of pyrotechnic effects are also in for an electrifying jolt upon this awakening!
The use of AI in setting both scene and tempo is handled with care, only adding to this powerful and moving production, where in lesser hands it might have been overwhelming.
See it.
Words: Karen Conrad
