FRANKENSTEIN by Forkbeard Fantasy. Lyric, Hammersmith to 24 November.

London

FRANKENSTEIN
by Tim Britton

Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith To 24 November 2001
Runs 2hr One interval

TICKETS 020 8741 2311
Review Vera Lustig 10 November

The whole is less than the sum of its parts in this fitfully amusing, but overall saggy and occasionally self-indulgent show.Mary Shelley's novel and James Whale's 1930s film The Bride of Dracula use the story-within-a-story structure. So do Forkbeard for this disjointed, phantasmagoric spoof on film-making, which has also been seen at Bristol Old Vic.

The company subverts the elegant gentility of Whale's opening sequence, giving us a man in drag as Mary Shelley, 'Lordy' (Byron) as a grimacing face projected on to a screen, and for Percy Bysshe (Shelley), a squawking homunculus who seems to have melted into his armchair. It's a protracted, grating scene.

My impression is of clever effects but no cohesive whole. Forkbeard's fusion of projection and live action could be particularly apt here, but as far as I remember, the Czech Laterna Magika did it more successfully in the late '50s.

Still, there are cherishable moments: nosy neighbours in an inn are portrayed, almost subliminally, by Alice in Wonderlandish heads on giraffe-length necks, swinging through an open bedroom door. The Creature has a functioning tap in place of what he sepulchrally calls 'my Thing'.

Then there's Igor, superfluous to the plot – such as it is – but still a joy. He's a hunchback with bulbous features and an ingratiating smile, who does a skeetering dance for us in the interval. And, yes, he does get to swing on a rope, in the tradition of fellow spinal curvature characters Richard III (in Laurence Olivier's hands) and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

While providing good clean-ish fun for all the family, the show is peppered with filmic references for the adults. This divisiveness – compounded by the unsuitability of the Lyric's underpopulated cavern of an auditorium – lends Frankenstein the underpowered, improvisatory feel of a workshop to which an audience has inadvertently been admitted.

Still, one image does haunt me. Mary Shelley, on a raised platform, feverishly writes, sheets of paper drifting down to cover the stage. Gradually, under this snowy blanket, the Monster takes shape and rises to his feet.

Mary Shelley/Count Obladee/Lord Byron/The Creature: Chris Britton
David G. Scrivener/Percy Shelley: Tim Britton
Igor: Jonathan Priest
Monster 9/Animator: Soo-Jeong Lee
Doppelganger/Legs/Monster's Mate: Carey Thring

Director: Andy Hay
Designer: Penny Saunders
Lighting/Cinematography: Robin Thorburn
Lighting/Vari-Lite: Paul Dunaway
Animation: Tim Britton
body-Parts: Chris Britton
Sound/Projection: Ed Jobling

2001-11-19 02:17:29