Shows

Martin Borley and Willy Gilder review Frankenstein. Send your own review using the form at the foot of the page.

The music throbs and through the gloom we see doctors giving a woman electric shock treatment, writes Martin Borley.

The monster watches a potential victim

This new version of Mary Shelley's original story, starts in the present day. Lisa Evans's script intertwines the tale of a modern-day "monster" with the original beast from 190 years ago.

When Victor Frankenstein's monster comes to life, it falls out of its birthing tank onto the floor like a heaving, leaden fish. Bit by bit it discovers its limbs and learns to stand. Richard Winsor is the perfect choice to depict the physical side of the monster because he's first and foremost a dancer.

Throughout the production the director Laurie Sansom (and movement directors Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett) fuses the action with contemporary dance. This gives the story another dimension and creates a nightmarish world.

Frankenstein and his monster.

Added to this is Adam Cork's atmospheric music which runs through the production like a movie soundtrack and Jessica Curtis's dark, oversized set of closing-in walls and projected images.

Whilst Frankenstein was still in rehearsal, Laurie Sansom told me: "You're short-changing your audience if you do Frankenstein and it's not scary." Believe me, there are plenty of moments when your heart will miss a beat or you'll leap out of your seat.

High Voltage

There's a sign on a door near the toilets at the back of the Royal's stalls that says DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE - and that seems appropriate for Frankensten, writes Willy Gilder.

Frankenstein and his mother

Using the high voltage of lightning Dr Frankenstein creates life - but the monster he creates turns on him and the world. It's a story we all think we know, from countless horror movies through to "The Monster Mash" - but few of us have read Mary Shelley's original book, and appreciate the real mystery behind the horror.

This glorious production takes us back to the book, and introduces a parallel story of a modern day "monster": a woman who has been locked up in a secure hospital for having committed some terrible crime. At first I wasn't sure about this device of using the twin stories - but by the end of the show, when all had been revealed it seemed all too dreadfully appropriate. After all, how we deal with our monsters is a measure of our civilisation.

This show pulls out all the stops. Using sound, light and movement to evoke an extraordinary atmosphere it creates a tension one all too rarely experiences in the theatre. There is horror, pathos and mystery - and not a few shocks along the way. It's such a risk taking a story that's so familiar and translating it onto the stage, but this production succeeds triumphantly.

Perhaps that sign should read HURRAH HIGH VOLTAGE THEATRE. This is a monster hit. In the immortal words of Bobby "Boris" Pickett: "It's a graveyard smash".