Frankenstein
Mary Shelley published Frankenstein in 1818. The book is one of the inspirations of the steampunk aesthetic that was first named in the 1980’s. Be Bold! Productions has created a musical stage adaptation of Shelley’s book and combined it with steampunk and expressionism. The result is an interesting if disappointing show. The script is faithful to Mrs. Shelley’s book, which varies in several points from the famous Boris Karloff movie of 1931. We meet Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein, remember, is the name of the scientist) in the Arctic chasing the monster he’s created. He relates his story to a sea captain who’s saved him from the ice. The play opens and ends with the captain addressing us, telling us about discovering both Frankenstein and the monster. The story of creating the creature, then, is a story within a story. The nameless monster educates himself by hiding for years in the home of a blind man and his family. By the time he returns to plague his creator, he ...