'Frankenstein' filmed in front of a live audience at the National Theatre in 2011, directed by Danny Boyle. I watched tonight’s performance (30th April 2020) starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster and Jonny Lee Miller as Doctor Frankenstein. The second online performance on Friday 1st May will see the actors swapping roles. I was so mesmerised by the performance as Cumberbatch as the monster that I am also going to watch the version with Jonny Lee Miller to see if his performance matches that of his contemporary. In fact, Jonny Lee Miller was nominated for an Olivier best actor award for his performance. These performances will still be available to watch online on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel until the 8th May.
The stage is set in darkness and comes alive, as does the monster, when the lightning flashes. It is atmospheric and the bell tolls at the same time. This time the bell does not toll as a signal of death but as a signal of life – but is it a natural life? The creature falls out of an amniotic sac, gasping for air with uncontrollable movements. It is a birth, but a birth of what? The lightning continues to flash around the stage, your eyes are fixed on the movements of the body in front of you. Cumberbatch moves and looks like a floundering marionette. Long-limbed like a gazelle trying to find his feet. Both actors deliver frenetic character portrayals for the full two hours. It is hard to keep up with their pace. With the cameras we are also seeing a different perspective than the audience. Sometimes filmed from above as well as in different positions on the stage. The performance takes place in the Olivier Theatre which has a fan shaped auditorium so the action can be seen from all angles in the theatre itself.
When Dr Frankenstein arrives on the scene and sees the newly emerged monster that he has created he is horrified and flees. The monster alone in the world, a solitary figure, seeks life, seeks survival and eventually seeks love. But we’re back to that age old question – who is really the monster? Is this a tale of horror for today – those people home alone in lockdown – do they feel abandoned? Alone and hoping for the day when they can venture into the world. Who is playing God? Mary Shelley’s book written back in 1818, in a time of Christian living was shocking. Today it is still shocking to think that Dr Frankenstein was playing God and giving life to his creations. This performance harks back to the early days of the Bible – Adam and Eve and Paradise. The monster, with no name, roams the earth and sees himself as Adam – he searches for his creator/ his God/ his ‘father’. Cumberbatch’s monster is grotesque and in this day and age where we are acceptable of all people he is still shocking to the audience. Naturally we feel that we should protect the disadvantaged and this performance encourages us to have our feelings pulled in different directions; first to feel sympathy for his loneliness and then to be horrified by his actions.
The monster is taken in by the blind man who cannot see his awful appearance. This Christian man cares for the monster and teaches him the bible. However, the monster needs to remain in the shadows so as not to scare people – he becomes more desperate to belong, to be loved and cannot understand why he was abandoned. Once he learns to read Frankenstein’s diary he realises that he was created as an experiment. An experiment that has gone wrong. The monster instinctively wants to be good and he wants to be loved, but realises that he will never be accepted.
Set at the time of the industrial birth, we are given a steam punk scene set in the town with a locomotive and actors arriving in the town. I’m a fan of steam punk so it was a great bit of directing. It is the beginning of a time when the human race starts to worship the God’s of Electricity and Gas. At one time the thumping sound of the machines is like a heart beating.
In the outside world the creature realises that men’s true actions are not God’s way of love and forgiveness, as he quickly learns that men’s traits are hate, humiliation, debasing and lying. This is still so poignant in our lives, today. Do we always act with love, respect and care?
So the monster becomes human in his acts of revenge
Jonny Lee Miller brilliantly portrays the doctor, a tormented and deranged genius. He realises the Monster is large and strong and he wants to kill it, to be rid of it. Jonny Lee Miller plays Frankenstein with the arrogance of a true genius. A God who has created and one who takes life away. But the underlying factor remains with; does the creature have a soul?
I have left the play in awe of these two actors, both brilliant in their roles. My one disappointment with the supporting cast who were superb is that of Naomi Harris (Moneypenny in James Bond) playing Elizabeth. Her performance was not up to the same quality as the lead actors and throughout her stage appearances she just threw her arms out from her side every time she spoke. But, as I said at the beginning I shall be fascinated to watch the actors in role reversal.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 30/4/20
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