THE OLD REP holds a special place in my heart as it was where I saw my first theatre many decades ago at the age of four.
That was on a snowy Boxing Day to see a show called ‘George the Happy Dagon’. Back then it was just ‘The REP’ – the place where reality ceased and wonders began.
That was my thoughts yesterday gazing at its majestic proscenium arch waiting for the Crescent Theatre Company’s production of ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ to start. Apart from that lovely dragon, I was also wondering if I was going to enjoy this adaption by Rona Munro any more than I did when I reviewed it in 2020 at Malvern Festival Theatre….
Karen Leadbetter – who directed this production – also designed the multilevel set which comprises the deck of a large ship either side of the stage complete with masts and sails. There are ladders, ropes and tea chests which provide access to all levels creating numerous acting spaces. The middle of the set is left at floor level to become various other locations.
The play opens with a scene from near the end of the novel where the infamous monster has been spotted by occupants of a ship sailing somewhere in the Artic waters. Before we get into the plot, the flow is interrupted by the entrance of the authoress Mary Shelley. The actors go into a remarkably long and perfect freeze as Shelley starts to share her problems as a writer. It is at this point that I was drawn into Leadbetter’s direction – rather than being disengaged as I was last time around where it all became a tedious exercise in intellectualism.
Millie Jones as Mary Shelley makes us care about her as a writer (who just happens to be a woman). Jones gives a passionate performance of great depth taking us into her thinking every step of the way, offering not ‘why’ but ‘how’ Shelley succeeded in writing one of the most famous gothic novels in history. Matched by only Bram Stoker’s Dracula, her Frankenstein remains the undisputed champion of nightmares.
Passionate is an adjective I would use to describe every member of this talented cast along – with ‘driven’. Dan Hawkins captures the destructive genius and egotism of scientist Victor Frankenstein giving it his full-throttle ninety percent of the time but managing a bit of restraint for the tender bits.
Elouise McMullan makes a delightfully naïve Elizabeth, Victor’s love interest. She literally glows when expressing her feelings and admiration for him. Kevin Tofte, Amelia Jordan, Amanda Nickless, Alex Greaves and Stephen Message all play a variety of roles which are consistently strong in delivery.
Joe Palmer is quite remarkable as the monster. When Frankenstein first shocked life into his creation of sewn together body parts, there was an audible gasp from the audience, just for an arm falling free from the sheet covering the monster on the operating table. This was followed by his hard, deep fall to the floor then arising to stretch slowly skywards towering like a giant – one of the finest pieces of physical theatre I have seen. Palmer’s movement throughout is like that of ballet dancer / ogre mix. It is some time before he speaks and when he does it is with a unique, unworldly voice. Palmer takes us on a journey where we feel sorrow for him as learns about love and pity for his loneliness and anger for murdering characters we come to care about. It is a performance I cannot praise highly enough.
Leadbetter has done the main thing asked of any director – she has concentrated on performance from the bottom up. There are no weak links and not once does the pace lose momentum – there is invention in every scene with skilful delivery. It is a production that is light on special effects but heavy on traditional production values with its excellent lighting, design from John Gray, perfect costume from Stewart and Rose Snape and an outstanding soundtrack designed by Leadbetter again featuring a playlist of heavy metal horror snips intertwined with hymns, bits of Bach, Mozart and a new one on me: Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnaadottir.
Shelley’s struggles with her writing and Frankenstein’s sad monster’s decline and fall both interlink and succeed as one entity in a top-drawer show. I do hope Rona Munro gets to see this production as I’m sure it’s the one she intended.
The show runs until Saturday, March 28. Click here for more.
