reviewing an arts event
On Thursday 30th of October I attended a live screening of 'NT Live Encore: Frankenstein'. I saw this at Wem Town Hall with the rest of the animation group.
Jonny Lee Miller played Frankenstein and Benedict Cumberbatch played Frankenstein's monster.
At the beginning of the play we see Frankenstein's monster experience his first moments of being alive. He takes his time to adapt to his surroundings and we see how vulnerable he is. He learns to use his muscles, to stand and to move around. The length of time that had been dedicated to display this moment was longer than I expected it to be. It give the play a realistic feeling and introduced the character in a way that we wouldn't be shown in a film.
We follow Frankenstein's monster on his search for his creator. He encounters members of the public and he learns that he will never be accepted into society because of the way he looks. Finally, he comes across a man who is blind. The blind man takes him in and teaches him to read and write but as soon as he is introduced to the man's family, the monster is thrown out of the house. To get revenge, Frankenstein's monster burns the blind man's house down with the family inside. The rage of the monster is displayed with flashes of lights, loud noises and bold movement from the actors. I like how these techniques were used to portray emotion. It was over-the-top but this worked well because it was a stage play that's seen from a distance.
Frankenstein is introduced as a scientist who finds out a way to bring the dead back to life. He meets the monster for the first time and is amazed that it functions properly. The monster pleads with him to create a female companion. At first, Frankenstein refuses to create another monster but he soon is persuaded to do as the monster wants. When he tells his family that he will be leaving for a while, they are angry and his fiancé wants to go with him. Frankenstein bargains with her and promises to marry her as soon as he returns. The strain on their relationship is shown really well here because you realise that he doesn't love her. It's shown in a subtle way and I find this more effective than if it were stated obvious. It makes the audience think about the relationship in more depth. You soon realise that he loves science more than he loves his fiancé.
Frankenstein travels to a quiet Scottish island where he plans to bring back a female from the dead. Here, the lighting and sound are made so that it gives the impression of lightning and rain. It creates a spooky and gloomy atmosphere and you know that something bad is going to happen. Frankenstein pays two locals to go grave digging to find him a fresh female corpse. He brings the body back to life. Frankenstein's monster reappears and praises Frankenstein for his creation. Frankenstein realises that he shouldn't have brought the woman back to life because the monster doesn't know how to live in society. Two of the monsters would be chaos. He destroys the woman's body and leaves the monster to mourn.
When Frankenstein returns home, he marries his fiancé. She waits in her bedroom for him. When he arrives, he announces that he must leave again to attend to another matter. He wants to find and kill the monster. When he leaves the room, the monster jumps out from under her bedsheets and restrains her. He explains his situation. The lady agrees not to alarm the guards of his presence and befriends him, scared that he'll hurt her. The monster rapes and kills the woman. Frankenstein returns to the room, after hearing the screams and watches the monster escape out of the window. Frankenstein pleads to his father, stating that he can bring his wife back to life. His father dismisses the option. We can see that Frankenstein's actions have torn the family apart.
Frankenstein and his monster travel to the arctic to live in solitude. Frankenstein is out of energy but the monster wants to go on. He suspects that Frankenstein has died, so he try's to bring him back to life and apologises for all the bad that he has done. This is a sad moment because you remember that the monster only wanted love and acceptance into society. Frankenstein regains consciousness and carries on pulling his sledge.
In conclusion, the acting, miss-en-scene and plot were phenomenal. I really enjoyed this live screening and would like to see similar productions in the future.
Jonny Lee Miller played Frankenstein and Benedict Cumberbatch played Frankenstein's monster.
At the beginning of the play we see Frankenstein's monster experience his first moments of being alive. He takes his time to adapt to his surroundings and we see how vulnerable he is. He learns to use his muscles, to stand and to move around. The length of time that had been dedicated to display this moment was longer than I expected it to be. It give the play a realistic feeling and introduced the character in a way that we wouldn't be shown in a film.
We follow Frankenstein's monster on his search for his creator. He encounters members of the public and he learns that he will never be accepted into society because of the way he looks. Finally, he comes across a man who is blind. The blind man takes him in and teaches him to read and write but as soon as he is introduced to the man's family, the monster is thrown out of the house. To get revenge, Frankenstein's monster burns the blind man's house down with the family inside. The rage of the monster is displayed with flashes of lights, loud noises and bold movement from the actors. I like how these techniques were used to portray emotion. It was over-the-top but this worked well because it was a stage play that's seen from a distance.
Frankenstein is introduced as a scientist who finds out a way to bring the dead back to life. He meets the monster for the first time and is amazed that it functions properly. The monster pleads with him to create a female companion. At first, Frankenstein refuses to create another monster but he soon is persuaded to do as the monster wants. When he tells his family that he will be leaving for a while, they are angry and his fiancé wants to go with him. Frankenstein bargains with her and promises to marry her as soon as he returns. The strain on their relationship is shown really well here because you realise that he doesn't love her. It's shown in a subtle way and I find this more effective than if it were stated obvious. It makes the audience think about the relationship in more depth. You soon realise that he loves science more than he loves his fiancé.
Frankenstein travels to a quiet Scottish island where he plans to bring back a female from the dead. Here, the lighting and sound are made so that it gives the impression of lightning and rain. It creates a spooky and gloomy atmosphere and you know that something bad is going to happen. Frankenstein pays two locals to go grave digging to find him a fresh female corpse. He brings the body back to life. Frankenstein's monster reappears and praises Frankenstein for his creation. Frankenstein realises that he shouldn't have brought the woman back to life because the monster doesn't know how to live in society. Two of the monsters would be chaos. He destroys the woman's body and leaves the monster to mourn.
When Frankenstein returns home, he marries his fiancé. She waits in her bedroom for him. When he arrives, he announces that he must leave again to attend to another matter. He wants to find and kill the monster. When he leaves the room, the monster jumps out from under her bedsheets and restrains her. He explains his situation. The lady agrees not to alarm the guards of his presence and befriends him, scared that he'll hurt her. The monster rapes and kills the woman. Frankenstein returns to the room, after hearing the screams and watches the monster escape out of the window. Frankenstein pleads to his father, stating that he can bring his wife back to life. His father dismisses the option. We can see that Frankenstein's actions have torn the family apart.
Frankenstein and his monster travel to the arctic to live in solitude. Frankenstein is out of energy but the monster wants to go on. He suspects that Frankenstein has died, so he try's to bring him back to life and apologises for all the bad that he has done. This is a sad moment because you remember that the monster only wanted love and acceptance into society. Frankenstein regains consciousness and carries on pulling his sledge.
In conclusion, the acting, miss-en-scene and plot were phenomenal. I really enjoyed this live screening and would like to see similar productions in the future.
This is such a detailed and thoughtful review. I wonder what the sets looked like though as I don't quite get a sense of how the production looked. Your review of the narrative and characterisation are really clear though!
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