Under a Halloween moon, a new production of Frankenstein opens the Powerhouse Performing Arts Center’s 2001-2002 season.
The show opens in Victor Frankenstein’s study, created by scene designer Rob Reeves to be an academic enclave of maroon brocade walls, floor to ceiling book cases, stained glass windows, French doors overlooking the shores of Lake Geneva, and a hallway and doors leading to other parts of the Swiss chateau. Sophie, the housekeeper, is heard offstage from Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory saying, “I don’t understand any of it.”
Kevin Smith, who portrays Victor Frankenstein and is on stage for the entire play, said, “The one thing about the myth is that it manages to play into any time period, that’s what makes it myth. Our role in creation cannot be ignored. The fact that you can apply this story to regular life makes it universal, it’s like Shakespeare.”
He added, “Anyone who attempts to create human life is going to be made mad because of the intensity of what they achieved and the responsibility of what they have achieved. It is too much for a human being to be able to deal with.”
Tom Petrone, an actor known to Town Players audiences since his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in “Hound of the Baskervilles,” plays Inspector Hessler.
“It’s a neat piece because it has chills, a few giggles and it makes you think about the creation of life, things that more than you would normally think about when going to see a horror piece. It’s topical with the debate about cloning and the consequences with cloning,” Mr. Petrone said.
Adam Dolan plays the creature in search of a mate.
A lifelong horror movie buff whose mother read him “Frankenstein” as a child, Mr. Dolan said Frankenstein is a story which people think they know, but maybe they don’t.
“The play’s story is closer to anything that is done in the movies and is really about responsibility and Victor Frankenstein’s irresponsibility as a father…The thing I latch onto most about the part is the sense of isolation. He doesn’t have a name and doesn’t give himself a name either. The Creature is childlike, he enters the world as a full grown being and doesn’t have the experience of having learned from anyone. There is always something which separates him from everything and everyone in the world. Every time he tries, something bad happens,” Mr. Dolan said.
A Broadway chorus performer and now a grandmother who plays Victor Frankenstein’s mother, Audrey Johnson, said, “There’s nothing new under the sun. I think about the different body parts and keep thinking that somewhere along the line it’s the same idea. Now we do transplants and change blood. When you think of Mary Shelley making this creature, she was way ahead of her time. As for Frau Frankenstein, she’s a very strong |
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mother, typical of many mothers, always trying to figure out what her son is doing. If it’s snowing, don’t go out, it’s snowing.”
Jeffrey Sherman, who plays Henry Clerval, said, “People hear the word ‘Frankenstein’ and think horror genre, but it’s not. It’s about moral issues. Life throws curves. The creature, the monster, was not what Victor expected. Victor didn’t count on the Creature wanting him to make a wife.”
Mr. Sherman added, “I like the script. It doesn’t go for shock. Every time it gets too tense, the playwright throws in laughs. Henry and Victor are the best of friends, they have the same passions and are to each other what no one else can be. Henry doesn’t see the Creature as evil or bad and brings Victor around to seeing the Creature as human. His optimistic view of the potential of the Creature for humanity is also compelling.”
Love encompasses Bonnie Comley’s thoughts about the role she plays as Elizabeth, Victor Frankenstein’s bride.
“Amidst all the chaos and fear, Elizabeth keeps finding ways to love and reach out to the two people she loves most, Frau Frankenstein, the woman who took her in and raised her as a beloved child, and Victor whom she has always loved and for whom science will always be his first love,” said Ms. Comley.
Heather Tarpinian who plays the housekeeper, said, “Sophie is concerned and protective about the family she takes care of. She wants to know all the details and is having an uphill battle.”
Of the show, she opined, “ Dr. Frankenstein’s torment and the loneliness of the Creature because he is suffering are compelling to me plus the conflict that those two have to work out. Also, Tim Kelley’s script. He brings such richness to each character, each one has something to do with which the audience can identify.”
Playing the shortest role, an explosive burst on stage as Justine, the gypsy who pleas for her life, is Aimee Cook, who gave the most succinct idea of the show. “It’s an entertaining family show, classic Frankenstein.”
The director is Stewart F. Lane.
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