Today I saw ‘Frankenstein’ at the National Theatre. The production, directed by Danny Boyle, has received excellent reviews and I’ll really have to concur. Boyle made a really interesting – perhaps risky- decision in casting Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller as both Frankenstein and the creature on alternating nights, and while I only saw one side of this pairing, after talking to other people it seems that this decision has paid off (and probably increased ticket sales!) Danny Boyle has said that he chose to cast both men to show their interconnectedness, "Frankenstein is creating life without women. The idea is to bring two actors as close to that notion as possible. And how do you do that? In terms of the performance, Frankenstein and the Creature literally create each other: every other night they reinhabit each other." This definitely comes across in the performance and at times the roles are confused and it’s hard to tell- who is man and who is monster? This is especially tangible in the last scene when the creature goes from taunting and powerful, leading Frankenstein Northwards to inevitable doom, to a quivering wreck begging for compassion and straight back again.
The subject addressed in the story is a fascinating one – the ability of man to create human life. This has interested scientists for generations, and arguably the recent advances in stem cell research are a step in this direction. However the play does serve as a warning against this. With its references to Paradise Lost and original sin, it warns of meddling in the natural order created by God. The original novel, written by Mary Shelley in 1818 had the subtitle, ‘The Modern Prometheus’, referring to the Greek myth in which Prometheus creates man and steals fire for them from Zeus who punished him by chaining him to a mountain and allowing birds to eat his liver every day. Supposedly this was a warning about the expansion of man during the industrial revolution, a phenomenon opposed by countless 19th Century writers, such as Wordsworth and Hardy. Alternatively, Frankenstein could be a lesson in parenting – don’t starve your child of compassion because they will become a rampaging lunatic. Maybe.
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| Miller and Cumberbatch in action |
The lunatic in question, Frankenstein’s creature was played fantastically by Benedict Cumberbatch, who has recently shot to fame after playing the main role in BBC’s ‘Sherlock’, but he’s actually been hanging around for a while- he was in Atonement and the Other Boleyn Girl as well as a lot of television and theatre. The play opened with him writing about on the stage for about 10 minutes completely naked. Watching this confirmed to me that acting is a career I could never do- it requires too much confidence and too much nudity. The audience could literally see everything (and I can confirm that he’s not *cough cough* that well endowed). Later in the play Frankenstein’s second creation, the Bride, also appears stark naked. Nevertheless the brilliant acting meant that it didn’t seem all that scandalous, it seemed appropriate for the play. Cumberbatch really showed the pains and difficulty of the birth and subsequent discovery of the world the creature undergoes and throughout the play he maintained a slightly odd voice and gait showing him to be an outcast from society, even though he actually becomes well educated.
It can be quite hard for the audience to know who to sympathise with and who is to blame for the disastrous occurrences. The creature’s perusal of Frankenstein and murder of innocent people – Frankenstein’s younger brother William being one of them – obviously casts him in a bad light. But then, Frankenstein did abandon him and leave him to be beaten and shunned.
Jonny Lee Miller was also excellent as Frankenstein, even if this is a slightly less exciting role. His confusion of emotions – pride, lust, fear, often in quick succession were displayed well and his interaction with the creature seemed genuine, not staged. There’s only one comment to really make about the casting- the rest of the Frankenstein family are black and he is clearly not, which just seemed a bit odd. While most of the other roles were minor they were well played with some fun cast spotting to be done – Frankenstein senior is played by George Harris who is Kingsley Shacklebot in Harry Potter, and the blind old man who teaches the creature (and is later burned by him) is played by Karl Johnson aka Twister from Lark Rise to Candleford.
I’ve always loved the National Theatre and this production was no exception. The set design was really interesting, complete with classic NT revolving stage and odd angles. Everything went so smoothly and loads of locations were shown, from the graveyards of Scotland to Frozen Mountains of Switzerland. My particular favourite was the home of the old man who teaches the creature which came down from above the stage and was a mesh like construction which was partly transparent. Also, as people were coming in to sit down there was a man in period dress ringing a bell which was ominous and really set the mood – I jumped everytime I heard it. Another brilliant feature was during the creature’s discovery scene- fake birds on string looked very real and rain and snow fell on the stage which was great.
Basically, I really really loved this play and everyone should go and see it. It was broadcast to cinemas live during March so its probably accessible on Youtube. It was such an interesting adaptation of a classic story, it was scary and sad and funny and the set design and atmosphere was perfect. My enjoyment was probably increased by my massive Beneditch Cumberbatch crush (massive. I literally squealed when he looked my way during the claps) but I’m pretty sure everyone will love it – you can’t argue with a standing ovation.
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