Monsters and their creators

Theatre lovers around the world are lucky enough to see performances recorded in the National Theatre or the Globe in London, the Metropolitan in New York or the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. In Budapest, we can see these shows in the Uránia Filmszínház (https://www.urania-nf.hu/hd_broadcasts).

The first screening of Frankenstein from the London National Theatre in 2012 was an immediate hit. Since then, Uránia has broadcasted the show several times due to its popularity. The main characters are played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller, directed by Danny Boyle. As an added twist, the actors alternate their roles of Frankenstein and the Creature.

The play starts with the birth of the Creature. He comes to life and starts discovering his body. After we get used to the slow start we watch eagerly how the Creature, just like a child, struggles with standing up and making his first steps. His birth does not bring joy though: his ugliness revolts even his creator and Frankenstein throws him out of his house. The Creature is left to his own devices and tries to survive – but wherever he goes, he meets disgust, fear and prejudice. He learns to read and write from a kind blind man, he learns Milton’s Paradise Lost by heart but due to his looks, he is always considered a monster – so he behaves like one.

The writer, Nick Dear, based on Mary Shelley’s book, raises important questions. Do we have the right to play God and revive the dead? If we bring a new life into the world, are we not responsible for this life? And who is the real monster? The person who kills trying to get love? Or the one who is incapable of love and sacrifices everything for his own interests?

Both actors are incredible. I prefer the cast where Johnny Lee Miller is the Creature – his dawning monster reminds me of a child learning to walk and he makes me smile when he tastes the rain or the grass. In his gestures, his speech he stays a monster all along, his movement stays rugged and he is salivating a lot. Cumberbatch is the perfect Frankenstein: a pale, lonely genius who is bored by the world and has no emotions (this might be familiar from somewhere else…). In the reverse of the roles, Cumberbatch’s Creature is more playful and funny, less animal-like. Miller’s Frankenstein just seems lost I could not feel his isolation and disgust for mankind.

Danny Boyle cannot deny his roots as a film director which makes this show spectacular. The set is simple but very creative. The huge light fixture above the stage can illustrate electricity currents, the stars in the sky or flashes of lightening. At a closer view we can see that it is made out of hundreds of different shaped light bulbs which create a magnificent effect. The stage covered with simple wooden floorboards can play tricks with your eye and you can see the depth of a lake and on the two rails in the middle a train can ride into the stage.

If you get the chance to catch this performance in a cinema somewhere around the world or on a dvd, it would be a great experience. A large screen can make you feel as if you are sitting in the National Theatre but I am sure that even on a smaller device you can appreciate the qualities of this performance. I know what I am talking about, I have seen it six times.