One summer Mary Godwin (Kellie Tori), her lover the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Eoin O’Connell), and her step-sister Clare Clairmont (Lauren-Anne Kempster) joined Lord Byron (Luke Lennox) and John Polidori at Lake Genoa in Switzerland. During this trip, by way of entertaining themselves, Lord Byron issued a legendary challenge to see who could write the most terrifying ghost story.
T'was here that Mary created... Frankenstein (oooh boogie boogie).
The play looks back at this summer and switches to other events from some years in the future when Mary is haunted by her own creation, by her guilt at events and scandals that surrounded her romance with Shelley, and the many tragedies that followed.
I confess that even before I sat down I had a pretty good idea I was going to like this production - you see I'm one of those people that has a morbid curiosity with things like ghost tours or the origin of Vampires or the true identity of Jack the Ripper etc etc. So to see a play that explores the origin of Mary Shelley's classic tale of Frankenstein was exactly my cup'o'tea.
Within the first scene I was swept up in the emotion and charm of a young Mary and her lover Shelley, and there I remained immersed until the play's final scene. The lighting and sound was dramatic and atmospheric, the costumes and props effective, but for me it was the the acting that remained so strong that the show was satisfyingly addictive.
@ Chapel Off Chapel, 28th Oct - 13th Nov 2010
Performed by Kellie Tori, Eoin O'Connell, Lauren Smith, Lauren-Anne Kempster, Luke Lennox and Charlie Ranger
Directed by Jennifer Innes
Performed by Kellie Tori, Eoin O'Connell, Lauren Smith, Lauren-Anne Kempster, Luke Lennox and Charlie Ranger
Directed by Jennifer Innes
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