Frankenstein, Theatre by the Lake Keswick Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Jo Hardy
Timed perfectly to prepare us for Halloween, Theatre by the Lake, brings to us the classic horror story based on the famous novel by Mary Shelley, written way back in 1818, the story of Dr Frankenstein is well known. I was eager to see this production presented by the tilted wig touring theatre group which is a new story written and directed by Sean Aydon.
Based on the original, this version is set during the Second World War one big difference is that Dr Frankenstein in a woman. Eleanor McLoughlin gives a very powerful performance as Dr Victoria Frankenstein, word perfect throughout.
There are two sets, the interior of a small wooden shack is the first scene and here we see two woman meet, both hiding from the past, as Victoria starts to tell her terrifying story. The first scene is pulled away to reveal a cold clinical laboratory with a huge gothic style window as the back drop and lots of specimen bottles with various contents.
I found the fist part of the show quite slow, the preparing of scientific things wasn’t very entertaining, and contained a lot of moving things from one place to another and putting things in and out of cupboards, which I didn’t see the point of, just as it started to get going with a bolt of lightening bringing the monster to life everything stopped for the intermission.
The second half moved much quicker, we see much more of the monster that Dr Frankenstein has created and the terrible damage it is doing Cameron Robertson plays a great part and manages to get across perfectly the intelligence of the character with the threat of violence never far away.
For the final scene we are back to the two women in the wooden shack and then they get a visitor. There is an eerie sound track running in the background throughout the show, the lighting is fantastic the way the lightening comes through the the huge window is spectacular and all the jars in the laboratory are lit in way that adds to the spookiness , as you would expect there were a few things that will make you jump.
The questions posed in this story are still relevant today ,I was left questioning the ethics of science , who is the monster Dr Frankenstein or the creature she created ?, what is perfection? and a new one what part does government funding play in all this?
This a dark story and you don’t leave the theatre feeling uplifted but it will give you plenty of things to think about and might even give you nightmares just what you need as Halloween approaches.
Showing from the 10th to the 14th of October shows start at 7.30 pm with matinees on selected dates. Tickets are available priced from £12 from the theatre’s website theatrebythelake.com the show runs for two hours, including a 20 minute interval and is suitable for ages 12 and above.
I give this show a rating of 4/5
Rating: 4/5