Frankenstein… or The Modern Prometheus
- 120 Minutes
- 7 Males 3 Females Max 13 Min 10 (Doubling Possible)
Drama, Simple Props, Simple Set
$11.00 – $95.00
A full-length adaptation of Frankenstein. True to the Mary Shelley original, except for a comic servant role, the play depicts the monster Creature with as much horror and sympathy as the original. Excellent for Halloween! Earlier versions of this play by Kathleen McBlair have been performed in school and community theaters since 1980. Audiences love it and scream heartily every time the Creature arrives in the window.
Play Details
Overview
Adapted for the stage from Mary Shelley’s novel by Kathleen McBlair, a full-length large cast play in ten scenes. The open staging works well and makes the scene changes easy to accomplish. In one production, the Creature entered and exited through the audience, which was raked and acted as the mountain path. Parents and kids screamed together!
The Characters:
Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist
Henry Clerval, victor’s friend
Elizabeth, Victor’s fiancée
Professor Zurmat, a scientist at Ingolstadt University
The Creature, Frankenstein’s creation
Herr Frankenstein, Victor’s father
Jonathan, a student at Ingolstadt
Hanz, another student
Annie, a nearsighted housekeeper
Officer Nugent, constable on the Scottish Coast
Chief Kirwin, in charge at the police station
Delacey, a blind villager
Felix, his son
Safie, Felix’s girlfriend
Captain Walton, on HMS Archangel in the Arctic Sea
Seaman Olaf, on-board the ship
Extras for police& students, good opportunities for doubling
The set:
Use open staging with one dramatic alpine backdrop, a tall staircase, flowing into and behind a snowy mountain peak, and winding all the way up into the flyspace, one scrimmed interior space with a door entrance from; and two tall, narrow windows that can be flown in/out, and one round, ship window. Tables, chairs and benches as needed for interiors. Some potted trees and plants for garden and hotel scenes.
The special effects:
Sound effects and complex, fluid lighting are essential. A clear, round ball with bubbling red liquid and a tube, canvas sheets and a body suit for the creature. The set should be a montage of shadows and jagged edges. An electric fire and oil lamps add ambient lighting.
Sound effects and complex, fluid lighting are essential. A clear, round ball with bubbling red liquid and a tube, canvas sheets and a body suit for the creature. The set should be a montage of shadows and jagged edges. An electric fire and oil lamps add ambient lighting.
The music:
Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus is used throughout the play. Also,
Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy is perfect for the creation scene. Somehow, this music
seems to have been written for this story.
From the Play
Act one,
Scene 3:
both windows are flown in side by side, with a sheet hastily taped across them to prevent prying eyes. The room/laboratory is lit with gas lamps and a disturbing bulk is covered atop a table in the middle of the area. Upstage of the table, a glass globe with tubes coming out of the top, leading to the covered body, bubbles with red liquid. A dilapidated couch, forming the right wall of the room, has a blanket and pillow messily thrown over. Music fades as the lights come up on Victor feverishly making notes in a small diary. It is November16th, 1713.
Victor: (writing) It is finished. My months of dreadful effort are over.
I am about to awaken from the nightmare of unimaginable acts committed in the dead of night.
No one can feel my sense of impending relief. Life and death seem to me now as only boundaries to be crossed. Mortality, but a dream from which one can be aroused.
A new species may bless me as it’s creator and source. Many happy and excellent natures will owe their lives to me.
I’m exhilarated and afraid at the same time! What intensity of emotion!
My head will split soon if the act is not consummated! (searches his pockets) Where is it?
Precious Elizabeth’s letter?
Ah! Here. My love says: ‘Dearest Victor, we are thrilled that you will soon be done with your project. Then, home at last! I don’t think Henry and I can wait for the day. You are in our prayers. Take care. Love.’
(he re-folds the letter and puts it in his coat pocket)
She says love! She is still an innocent. The love one feels for that which he has created himself is far greater than she knows. It’s like a slow burning inside. The time has come…
Just then, Frankenstein’s door opens and he is nearly startled out of his skin. He whisks the diary into his pocket and stands as the near-sighted housekeeper, Annie clumps in with her bucket, bucket, mop and duster. She is a squinting character, raggedly dressed, and a bit oblivious to what’s going on around her. She squeaks when she notices the intense young man.
Annie: (French accent) Ooh! Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur! I am not accustomed to cleaning in your quarters at night, but you are often out to class in the evenings.
Victor: (irritated with the interruption) It’s six o’clock at night! What are you doing in here?
Productions
Willunga Waldorf School, 1st - 30th November 2022
Willunga Waldorf School,
1st – 30th November 2022
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