MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN till 15 March.
Northampton.
MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN
adapted by Lisa Evans and Frantic Assembly.
Royal and Derngate Theatre to 15th March.
Mon. to Sat. 7.45 pm.
Runs 2hrs 20 mins: one interval.
Tickets: 01604 624811.
www.royalandderngate.co.uk
Review: Ian Spiby, 27 February 2008.
A confused and misguided adaptation of the classic novel.
From the evidence before our eyes, the combination of Lisa Evans adaptation, Laurie Sansom’s direction and Frantic Assembly’s physical theatre are not an easy one and although they have all done excellent work in the past, unfortunately none of them emerges from this production with very much credit.
The adaptation frames the gothic horror story with a modern “monster”, a woman, Mary, who has murdered her baby and is now in a psychiatric institution, visited by her sister Hattie. She obsessively reads Mary Shelley’s novel. In and around this story, the novel is enacted, interspersed with movement sequences of varying intensity.
And herein lies the root of the problem. Not only do these sequences look grafted on and therefore gratuitous, but also, the actors look distinctly ill at ease performing them.
Furthermore, The Monster (Richard Winsor)is a far better dancer than he is an actor. Some of the highlights of the production are the movement episodes in which he is involved, but his limited vocal technique and lack of ability to create a convincing dramatic character, are severely limiting factors.
In other ways, the production simply does not hang together. The framing story appears at times to be a tiresome irrelevance with the mundane exchanges between Mary and Hattie just tedious and not getting us anywhere. It seems extraordinary, that with such a fundamentally exciting story, there is scarcely a moment of genuine dramatic tension throughout. Almost without exception, the actors appear ill-at ease.
There are good things however. Adam Cork’s sound design and composition are a superb accompaniment to Sven Ortel’s impressive video projections and Andy Purves’ lighting design, all of which provide a real sense of gothic atmosphere. Excellent too, are the so-called “community cast”, who for little or no pay provide efficient, focused and committed performances. To my mind they are the best of the bunch.
Cast: Georgina Lamb: Mary/Justine. Caroline Faber: Hattie/ Frankenstein’s Mother. Ifan Meredith: Frankenstein. Rob Hastie: Captain Walton/Henry/Felix. Stephen Ventura: Frankenstein’s Father/De Lacey. Saskia Butler: Elizabeth/Safie. Richard Winsor: The Monster. William Brennan, Henry Castle and Kier Probert: William Frankenstein. Community Cast: Tina Barratt, Adam Kozuch, Natalina Malina, Martin McCreadie, Nicky Osbourne, Laura Paterson, Elsie Srodah, Alex Valk.
Director: Laurie Sansom. Movement Directors: Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett. Designer: Jessica Curtis. Lighting Designer: Andy Purves. Composer and Sound Designer: Adam Cork. Video Designer: Sven Ortel.
2008-02-27 14:19:51