Frankenstein is a classic loved by many. It's storyline is known by most and captivates a person before they have even read the book or seen a show. Frankenstein is the story of a creature (Benedict Cumberbatch in this case) who was created by Victor Frankenstein (Jonny Lee Miller). The story tells us how said creature tries to adjust to it's new body and come to grips with life despite being hated by everyone he comes into contact with.
The credits of this production go to the lead roles Benedict Cumberbatch (the creature) and Jonny Lee Miller (Victor Frankenstein) who have a love/ hate relationship as scientist and specimen. The role of Frankenstein is split between the two actors. In this review I will be discussing the portrayal of creature by Benedict Cumberbatch. From first seeing Cumberbatch we are instantly captivated. I thought the acting and directing of the first scene was genius because we first see Cumberbatch in a cocoon esque pod which he is later birthed from. From the moment we see his hand we instantly know that what we are looking at is out of the ordinary. When Cumberbatch emerges from the pod he is captivating within a second because he instantly falls to the floor, as if a new born baby who doesn't know how to walk. For the first ten-ish minutes of the play we see Cumberbatch getting to grips with his new form and learning how to stand up and walk. The only thing I can compare the way Cumberbatch portrayed this re-birth and coming to grips with walking to is Bambi n ice. Cumberbatch's performance was intriguing because he embodied the character perfectly and exaggerated every move he made. He portrays the character so well that he is beyond our understanding at first and it blows my mind as a viewer to see how well he re-enacted birth and childish mannerisms which just makes all the more impact. We then see Jonny lee Miller walk in, fascinated with his creation and shell shocked that it is in fact living. He does not stay for long before running off, which gives us our first insight into the character of Frankenstein. He can't face his problems. The story goes on and eventually Cumberbatch wanders into a street where there is a man shouting abuse at a woman who is clearly intoxicated. I must mention at this point, Cumberbatch cannot speak and only moans as a form of communication. All Cumberbatch does is look in the direction of the man shouting abuse which immediately leads him to run off leaving the creature and a drunk woman on stage. I think this is a key moment in the play because not only is it the first time a human sees the monster, but it shows what Cumberbatch was talking about in the introduction about the male ego. Before the man saw the monster he had no problem shouting at the woman and treating her with unkindness but as soon as he sees the monster he runs off like a scared little child, leaving the woman drunk and alone. Eventually the woman does run off but she still gives the creature a bit of her attention beforehand. Everyone is scared of the creature after seeing what he looks like and all he want is to receive love and show love. When he stumbles across an old blind man in the hills, he is accepted and looked after, showing us that people are judging him purely based on looks whereas the old man cares about bettering him as a person. The old man lives with his son and his son's wife; Felix and Agatha who have no idea about the creature. Time passes (about a year to be exact) and the old man teaches the creature to read, write, talk and think for himself. The creature is finally accepted and the old man promises him a home, all he has to do is meet Felix and Agatha who the old man has said will accept him. When the day does come they immediately shout and hurt the monster leading him to run off leaving behind the old man. This just goes to show that no matter what we promise, mankind are unpredictable and judgemental and the old man broke his promise to the creature which (understandably) breaks his heart. The creature then goes on to burn down the old mans house with everyone inside it. Throughout the show we can see the creatures mind slowly developing, along with his literacy rate and intelligence. He is evil and all he longs for is love, so when he finally gets the attention of Frankenstein by killing his brother he asks for him to make him a female companion which leads Frankenstein to betray him again. I was a massive fan of the intense scenes and thought they were well staged because although the stage is in the round, there is a traverse section that is thrust into the audience like the plank on a ship. A lot of the action was brought onto this section of the stage and broke the 4th wall between the audience and the cast which was a brilliant idea. The only criticism I would give is that Jonny Lee Miller's tone throughout was very angry and he always had a loud volume and low pitch which eventually got too much to listen too. I understand that the play is very intense but I think that his voice was too over dramatic and there was little variety.
The set and props played a big part in this production. The first thing we see when watching the show is a cocoon type pod which is centre stage left. It looks a little bit like a trampoline that have been made into something that looks a lot like a womb. During scene changes the stage rotates which adds a good dimension to the performance. A piece of staging I really like was when a mining-esque train came into the set with a group of people on who discover the creature. I think this is a fabulous idea and thoroughly enjoy this short part of the show. When the creature is outside in the field, somehow rain appears and there is a beautiful moment when the creature takes in what is going on in the world around him. There is also fire and grass that appears on stage and it just adds that little bit extra to the set. When the creature meets the old man there is a house on the right of the stage and the left is used as a field. This is a very effective was of staging because cross cutting occurs between the two. There is a scene where Frankenstein's brother meets the creature on a small pier in the lake and it is very effective because there is a mist over the stage which really makes it look like the two are on a lake. We also see Frankenstein's house which is very grand and expensive looking. The final bit of staging that I feel is worth mentioning is when Frankenstein is creating a female companion for the creature and completes this process in a house that is very detailed. The walls are made of large stone and every bit of staging is precariously placed. Lighting was also a big factor in the performance. It was well thought out and added massively to the overall aesthetic of the play. When we first look at the stage with the cocoon on it, the lighting is red and flashes a warm white every time the creature moves. Red is always associated with danger and mystery which is why its the perfect colour to introduce the piece with. When the creature comes to life there is a big burst of light that looks like electricity. As the music intensifies, the lights fade and in come the miners. The stage is lit with a singular bright headlight off the train that the miners enter on. After this scene the stage is lit to look lie daytime when the creature is in the field and stays this was for quite a lot of the performance, apart from when Cumberbatch burns down the old mans house and the stage turns fiery orange. The lighting is then pretty stagnant throughout and the play ends with Cumberbatch and Miller walking towards a bright white light, telling us that there is light at the end of this dark story and hope for the characters yet. Lastly, costume. From the start it was obvious to me that the costume and makeup was magnificent. Cumberbatch s birthed with stitches, scars, cuts and burns all over his body which adds to the fact that he is nothing more than a science experiment. When we first see Miller, it is obvious that he is wealthy because despite working hard as a scientist, he is still wearing a white shirt and corduroy trousers along with a smart pair of shoes. All of the costumes we see are very fitting to the 1800's and it is clear when we are looking at lower class characters (like Agatha and Felix) because they wear rags. The only time the costumes really change is when there is a change in weather and the characters dress accordingly. As the creature becomes ore intelligent we see him start wearing clothes and being a little more reserved. I don't have many comments about the blocking of the piece as nothing majorly caught my eye. All the actors worked well together and everyone had their time to shine. There were a few songs in the play which random villagers sung but there was no choreography to accompany the numbers as it just felt like random old folk singing.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the piece and my focus was not lost at any point. I think that all of the choices made were well thought out and you could tell that a lot of work went into this piece. The National Theatre have outdone themselves (in my opinion) because the amount of technical aspects and bold choices were brave and magnificent. Taking these creative risks most definitely payed off.
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