Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Much creative effort has gone into producing this stage version of Frankenstein, the classic cautionary tale about the dangers of technology. But, with its heavy use of cutting-edge stage videography, this production runs the risk of being like the monster at the centre of Mary Shelley’s gothic tale – a creature whose sum of separate, sewn together parts don’t quite add up to a satisfying whole human.

Mary Shelley layered her 1818 novel with an abundance of text in the form of letters, memories, flashbacks and stories to convey the scope of her themes on the cost of blind pursuit of knowledge. The epitome of the gothic horror genre, the writing was also rife with dreams and darkness. To translate the tale to the stage (the script is an adaptation by Nelle Lee who also takes on the lead role of Victor Frankenstein’s love interest, Elizabeth) the team at shake & stir use videos and stage effects to create Victor’s journey as he traverses from Geneva to the North Pole in pursuit of his creature. Individually the parts are intriguing elements – a capable cast in shake & stir’s usual troupe including Darcy Brown, Tony Cogin, Nick James, Jodie Le Vesconte, Nelle Lee and Jeremiah Wray. The Design team – Josh McIntosh (stage design), Trent Suidgeest (lighting), Guy Webster (sound), Craig Wilkinson (video) and Steven Boyle (creature makeup) – have all done their bit to bring Shelley’s characters to life. But for all their brilliance, for me there were two key elements crucially missing – fear and suspense.

On opening night, the cast seemed hesitant to totally grasp the gothic style and connect with their characters – a trepidation maybe of getting in the way of the stunning projections, stage revolve and stage effects. It could also have been because there seemed to be a fault with the microphone and sound system which made all the work on stage seem muffled and distant, which did not help to draw me in to the story. I’m certain that the timing of this one-act script could use a review as it is well into the first hour before we really see the creature and start to empathise with his cause. These are areas that Director Nick Skubij will surely be looking to tighten and tweak for future productions.

Established by joint Artistic Directors, Ross Balbuziente, Nelle Lee and Nick Skubij, shake & stir has been on Queensland’s theatrical landscape for more than 15 years. They are an award-winning theatre group that specialises in touring education productions and introducing audiences to classic literature via their unique adaptations – from Roald Dahl’s The Twits to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Audiences interested in the use of the latest technology to translate works to the stage will be interested to see their take on Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Joel Deveraux

Find out more: www.qpac.com.au/event/shakestirfrankenstein_23