“FRANKENSTEIN”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of “Frankenstein.” Directed by Alex Conboy, the play runs through August 2 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: Victor Frankenstein (Jimmy Weinstein, left) and the Creature (Lana Gaige, right) debate the ethics of animating the Female Creature (Lucy Grunden, center). (Photo by Florencia Curchitser)
By Donald H. Sanborn III
Playwright Nick Dear’s Frankenstein arguably is imprecisely titled. A more accurate title might be Frankenstein’s Creature, because in this version the Creature, not the titular scientist, clearly is the protagonist.
Based on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Dear’s play premiered in 2011 at the Royal National Theatre. It is one of several literary adaptations by the playwright, who also has created a stage version of The Turn of the Screw, and a screenplay of Persuasion.
Dear’s passion for literature is palpable in Frankenstein. Various authors are quoted (notably Milton, from Paradise Lost). While the concept and plot elements obviously borrow from Shelly, thematically there also are traces of Notre-Dame de Paris and The Ugly Duckling.
Princeton Summer Theater (PST) is concluding its season with Frankenstein. Alex Conboy directs a superb production in which fine acting and design consistently complement Dear’s clever, poetic script.
That the Creature is the protagonist is obvious from the first scene. Dear opens with the Creature’s animation, which does not happen in the novel until the fifth chapter.
Part of what makes Dear’s script so stageworthy is that it clearly is written with the intention of letting acting and production design carry plenty of weight in conveying the story. Additionally, while Dear is capable of writing dialogue that is by turns elegant and pithy, he also knows the power of wordless movement.
Before the performance begins we see part of Jeff Van Velsor’s set. Silver metallic scaffolding, which introduces a theme of human construction work, flanks a plain white curtain. The choice of the color white suggests both innocence and a blank sheet on which to draw.
Sound Designer Colin Lansky opens the play with a simple heartbeat. A new life exists.
Conboy filters our view of the Creature’s animation; we see him behind the curtain, in silhouette. This evokes a chicken moving in its shell right before it hatches.
Like any newborn child, the Creature (given a consistently outstanding portrayal by Lana Gaige, in what may be their finest performance) is disoriented and unskilled in his motions. Lighting Designer Florencia Curchitser enhances the sense of disorientation by making the spotlights uncomfortably bright; we get a sense of how things must look to a newborn baby.
Costume Designer Jimmy Weinstein (assisted by Susan McLernon) supports and develops the key ideas established by Van Velsor’s set. The Creature usually is outfitted in a simple cloak that echoes the white curtain. His robotic left arm resembles the scaffolding, reminding us that both the scaffolding and the Creature are mechanical inventions. Unlike the scaffolding, however, the Creature is sentient, with an ability to learn; his light beige tunic reinforces the “blank paper” motif.
Conboy and Gaige have a wonderful sense of how the Creature should move. Gaige’s motions are artfully jerky and unpredictable. The Creature makes repeated attempts to stand and walk properly; he falls several times before he finally succeeds.
Exploring his surroundings, the Creature is fascinated by everything, including birdsong. He attempts to express himself via a serious of cries and grunts, before he later learns how to use words.
If the pacing feels a bit slow during this segment, artistically it is worth it to convey a sense of this new life form learning, through trial and error, to function in its surroundings.
These proceedings are observed, coolly and wordlessly, by Victor Frankenstein (played by Jimmy Weinstein, who captures the character’s lack of warmth, and masks complicated layers that will be unveiled later). Again accentuating a young child’s point of view, Conboy places Frankenstein high on the scaffolding so that he towers over the Creature.
Frankenstein literally and metaphorically looks down on his creation. As the Creature instinctively moves toward his creator, the first words he hears are the repulsed scientist’s “No, keep away.” That is the last we see of Victor for some time.
Soon the Creature finds himself to be reviled by anyone who sees him. Gretel, a prostitute (Sidney Humes-James) merely flees; but beggars Gustav (Lucy Grunden) and Klaus (Humes-James, in an example of frequent multi-casting) beat him. (Sequences in which the Creature defends itself, or attacks others, are well staged by Fight Directors Jacqueline Holloway and Kat McLaughlin; the latter also is the Intimacy Director.)
Tellingly, the one who treats the Creature with the most kindness is the blind De Lacey (Ja’Quan Spann, who infuses the character with the right mixture of warmth and introspection). De Lacey (who has knowledge) teaches the Creature about music, English, and religion. The Creature (who has sight) guides De Lacey when he walks.
The two help each other by sharing what the other lacks, and in De Lacey the Creature finds the mentor – the father – that the absent Frankenstein has failed to be. However, De Lacey’s son Felix (Orion Lopez-Ramirez) and Felix’s wife Agatha (Humes-James) see well, and winning their sympathy proves more than challenging for the Creature.
In a beautifully staged dream sequence the Creature imagines bonding with a Female Creature (Grunden). Like the Creature’s first scene, this segment is wordless. This time, however, the motions are graceful rather than jerky, as the two move together in an imagined, exquisitely choreographed, dance.
This scene is a fulcrum that propels the Creature’s motivation and actions for the remainder of the play, giving him heightened determination to find Victor. This entails encountering Victor’s brother, William (Joey Nartker); and father, Monsieur Frankenstein (Spann, in a second paternal role).
A highlight of the second act is a scene in which the Creature confronts Victor. In an apt turnabout from an earlier scene, Victor cowers on the floor, while the Creature towers over him. Conboy astutely uses vertical levels to foreshadow a line of dialogue that is heard later: “The son becomes the father.”
The Creature has a single demand for Victor: build a Female Creature (resembling the one in the dream) that can be a mate and companion. Victor, who (belatedly) has newfound moral qualms, is reluctant.
Weinstein entertainingly portrays Victor’s mixture of horror and astonished pride at what his creation has become, as well as his patronizing lack of warmth toward his fiancée, Elizabeth Lavenza (Emmie Collins). Victor is knowledgeable about science, but emotionally ignorant and abusive in his relationships.
To this, Elizabeth is a bracing foil. Collins infuses the character with requisite polished grace, mixed with steely resolve. We can tell that Elizabeth is unlikely to be patient with Victor’s behavior indefinitely; and other than the Creature, she is the only one who makes any headway in standing up to him. (Beside De Lacey, she is the only one who reacts to the Creature with anything other than horror.)
“I am the one who stands outside the door. I see inside. But I daren’t go in.” This line is deftly illustrated by Conboy and the designers; careful production choices periodically make us the outsider. Like the Creature, we “see inside,” but at times, only via silhouette. Conversely, in another scene the lights focus on the audience, and both Victor and the Creature look down on us.
Guiding the cast and creative team, Conboy accomplishes a distinct unity of script and staging, and underlines an obviously too relevant theme of casting out those who do not physically resemble others in the community.
Victor Frankenstein may have created a monster (though arguably he is at least as bad). With Frankenstein, though, PST has created an excellent production of a literate and poignant script.
“Frankenstein” will play at the Hamilton Murray Theater in Murray Dodge Hall, Princeton University, through August 2. Content advisory: “Frankenstein” is recommended for audiences aged 18+ due to mature themes including portrayals of sexual assault and general violence. For tickets, show times, and further information visit princetonsummertheater.org.