Frankenstein Reviews

‘Thrilling’ A review of Frankenstein by the National Theatre Last Friday night I watched a play called Frankenstein on the National Theatre’s youtube. This play is a stunning twist on the famous Gothic novel.

Throughout the play the patriarchal expectations were clearly conveyed as many women through this were seen and used as objects that you’re not meant to be with, you own them. I found this very interesting considering the writer of the book had a feminist heritage.

The play had many tragic deaths which were caused by what the monster thought was justice or revenge. Despite all of this you feel sympathy for the monster and you feel sympathy for Frankenstein too, regardless of his abandonment of the monster.

Personally, the start of the play was my favourite part as the monster’s birth tells us that (despite being tall and scary) he is still only a baby and he needed help coming into the new world as he was weak and scared.

I found the relationship between the monster and Frankenstein to be a rollercoaster of intensity and indifference. From a certain perspective you could compare the monster and Frankenstein and say they are the same. They both struggle with the world and both oppose their God. I rate this a solid 9/10 as Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance, despite being an exhausting one, was thrilling and brilliant. I was also amazed by Johnny Lee Miller’s performance who really brought out the anger which is very clearly within Frankenstein.

This was one of the best National Theatre performances I have watched. I recommend this.

Reuel

‘The real Monster’ Frankenstein, a play based on the story by Mary Shelly, is about a scientist called Dr Frankenstein who plays god by creating life out of dead body parts and electricity from lightening. It tells the story that what may have been Dr Frankenstein’s great achievement actually will be his greatest downfall.

The interesting thing about the National Theatre production of Frankenstein is that the lead characters are alternately played by two lead actors. On the night I watched the play Benedict Cumberbatch played the role of the Monster. After watching the play, I feel the name ‘Monster’ is unfair because the Monster was one of the kindest and most thoughtful characters in the play. The real monster is Dr Frankenstein. Throughout the play Dr Frankenstein showed he only cared about scientific progress and his own development and not what he had created and what that meant. The Monster is abandoned and unloved until he meets the blind old man, who treats him with respect and teaches him.

One significant aspect of the play is that everyone who saw the Monster showed fear or disgust and was nasty to him. However, the blind man couldn’t see how the Monster looked physically and treated him as a normal man.

One of the most powerful things to see in the stage play was when the Monster came to life in the first 15 minutes. It was amazing to watch the actors portray how the Monster was coming to life and learning to use his body. This was done without any speech and just by the actors using their own physicality. I also watched the first 15 minutes of the play on the 2 nd day, where Jonny Lee Miller was the Monster. His portrayal showed the Monster to have more childlike movements and innocence.

Benedict Cumberbatch was more aggressive like he was fighting with his body and struggling to get used to how it worked. Both showed through their bodies and acting how confused and frightened the Monster was of their new life and the world.

I was impressed with the staging of the production. It was often simply set up but very effective. I especially liked the lights above the stage, which at times look like lightening. I also like the steam train. It was interesting how so few cast members could portray busy industrial times.

Overall, I believe this is a brilliant adaptation of a classic story. It teaches many lessons including; we should not judge people based on their appearance, it is wrong for man to meddle with creation and God’s power and despite the good intentions of the blind man it was the badness in the world that corrupted and destroyed both the Monster and Frankenstein.