Amid Melbourne’s current theatre line up of lavish musicals, Frankenstein holds its own with a suspense-building score and astonishing performances. Audience members arrive dressed in their most gothic attire, ready to be immersed in Mary Shelley’s canonical tale. Erik Satie and Claude Debussy’s hauntingly sweet tones fill the theatre as we watch the stage become enveloped with smoke, an effect present during most of the production. Adapted by Nelle Lee for production company Shake and Stir, this version of Frankenstein comes to the Princess Theatre stage following its successful Brisbane debut in 2023.
Often considered the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein follows scholar and scientist Victor Frankenstein who shares his story of ambition and regret after assembling a man (a creature) from corpse limbs. Unnaturally thrust into an unforgiving world, The Creature seeks acceptance from a harsh society unwilling to look past ‘the beast’.
Director Nick Skubij catapults his audience into the heart of action with a ship crew taking Victor aboard. Darcy Brown is charming as Victor, leaning into his passion and regret for his creation. It’s made clear this adaptation will predominantly follow Victor’s perspective over The Creature’s.
Guy Webster’s captivating sound design made for a powerful start to the production, although it did drown out some of the opening dialogue. Perhaps this was intentional to add to the chaos of this beginning sequence where Victor is frantically being saved by the crew.
The production’s impressive pyrotechnics and several large LED panels (from video designer Craig Wilkinson) complement Victor’s narration of his journey by situating moments in their location and season. They also pay homage to the original text’s letter format when Victor’s writing is displayed on the panels as he descends further into his gory experiment. The lead up to The Creature’s graphic construction is filled with seamless transitions of time and space. We then land in a decrepit lab where a series of lightning strikes break the calm, serving as the catalyst for Victor’s mental demise. The set design creates an especially hypnotising moment when a floor-to-ceiling white billowing curtain appears and conceals the stage before changing from solid to sheer.
Tony Cogin, Nick James, and Anna Lise Phillips form quite the ensemble cast, each moving between roles and distinctly embodying their characters as the narrative unfolds. One of the most notable performances is given by Chloé Zuel (Six the Musical, Hamilton), whose strength as Elizabeth, Victor’s childhood friend and love, leaves us holding on to her every word.
Reprising his role of The Creature from the season is Jeremiah Wray, whose physical talent cements the production’s creepily chilling atmosphere. We meet him withering on the ground, attempting to take his first steps in his mangled makeshift body with the stage revolving around him. Any sympathy elicited for The Creature is quickly removed as his acts of violence become more grotesque. Rejection by the masses leads him on a path of destruction, exerting his dominance over the other characters, a feat made ever easier by Wray’s great stature. Notably, he’s not given much space in this adaptation to explore the softer moments of The Creature’s kindness, which would have been a solid contrast with his acts of brutality later.
The audience are left in suspense as they wait painfully long for a clear reveal of The Creature’s distorted features, expertly designed by Steven Boyle. Concealed by smoke and darkness, the audience only sees The Creature in an unfiltered light when he finally meets Victor face to face. At this moment viewers are directly placed in Victor’s shoes.
Frankenstein’s eloquent use of jarring sounds (be prepared for bones cracking) and strobe lighting from Trent Suidgeest’s design assault our senses in a tone evocative of Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. However, this production just as easily leans into moments of silence. When The Creature engages with an old blind man, all sound is removed and light is sucked from the stage except for a single lit candle. When their moment is interrupted, sunlight and noise flood the room and The Creature’s hopes of acceptance are ripped away. Thus begins The Creature’s violent rampage as he battles to gain companionship. The production’s graphic depictions of death left the audience collectively gasping.
Before the final smoke fills the stage, you’ll already be wanting to experience the thrill again. The most disappointing part of Frankenstein is its short ten-day season that finishes this Sunday September 1. Be sure to see this fiery tribute to the gothic before it’s ripped up and reassembled for Sydney audiences next month.
Frankenstein will play at the Princess Theatre from August 23 until September 1 and tickets are now available over here.
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