The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

Frankenstein at the Brockley Jack Theatre

Frankenstein at the Brockley Jack Theatre | Theatre review
30 September 2017
Euan Franklin
Avatar
Euan Franklin
30 September 2017

When a stage is next to the local pub, one can’t help their scepticism. The Brockley Jack is a tiny venue, seating no more than 50 people who surround the performers on three sides. The lighting is bleak yet colourful, like the poster for The Exorcist, and spectators are wrapped in fake fog. The scepticism rises. How can this theatre-group transform a story that’s already been done to death and forced back to life again and again? But within ten minutes, these doubts are set on fire.

Theatre company Arrows & Traps specialise in electrifying classic texts for modern audiences. In their latest production of Frankenstein, adapter and director Ross McGregor tells a more fragmented version of events. Starting with Mary Shelley (Cornelia Baumann) on stage, the revered writer is pulled back-and-forth between scrambled chapters in Frankenstein and the tragic events that inspired them. She appears as a nostalgic phantom within both timelines, as fact and fiction become blurred.

McGregor’s English degree shines through this production as the viewer enjoys an entertaining comparative analysis between the text and the tragic influences in the author’s life. They align together, bringing a new sadness to the narrative. The play does jump too much between the different timelines, frustrating an already complicated structure and anyone unfamiliar with the original story will be dumbfounded by the display. But one does feel like a scholar by the end.

The Arrows & Traps wackiness is overdone at times, particularly during the Creature’s reanimation scene. The room is shrouded in darkness for a Tron-like light show that doesn’t feel appropriate for the human tone of the piece. Neither does the dramatic music, which feels better suited to a cheesy blockbuster.

The length of the play is also an issue. At two-and-a-half hours, the audience twitches in their seats. There are many irrelevant subplots within the Shelley timeline that serve only to stunt the story, and wouldn’t be missed if taken out. The diversion with Shelley’s sister’s relationship with Lord Byron feels especially superfluous. Nevertheless, it is an enlightening experience.

A thoughtful and energetic adaptation, Arrows & Traps brings new life to an old classic. With humorous and emotional performances all round, especially from Baumann and Will Pinchin as the Creature, this is a production that will fiddle with audience anticipations to create a shocking surprise.

★★★★★

Euan Franklin
Photo: Arrows & Traps Theatre

Frankenstein is at the Brockley Jack Theatre from 26th September until 21st October 2017. For further information or to book visit the Brockley Jack Theatre website here.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video about the production here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels

★★★★★
Brooke Snowe
Read More

Redemption Room at Secret Theatre Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Rice! at Omnibus Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

24, 23, 22 at Chronic Insanity Online

★★★★★
Samuel Nicholls
Read More

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Southwark Playhouse Online

★★★★★
Michael Higgs
Read More

Typical at Soho Theatre

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Grimm Tales for Fragile Times and Broken People

★★★★★
Emma-Jane Betts
Read More

Gatsby at Cadogan Hall: An interview with Jodie Steele and Ross William Wild

Michael Higgs
Read More

Living Record Festival: Ain’t No Female Romeo

★★★★★
Brooke Snowe
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Euan Franklin

Frankenstein

★★★★★

Dates

26th September - 21st October 2017

Price

£12-£15

Links & directions

TwitterFacebookWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Limbo
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Delectible drinks that would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift
    Food & Drinks
  • Killing Escobar
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • “There really hasn’t been a film that deals with a platonic male-female relationship in this way”: Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass discuss Language Lessons
    Berlinale
  • A Brixton Tale
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Surge
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • The Old Ways
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Berlinale 2021 winners: The full list
    Berlinale
  • WandaVision
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Coming 2 America
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Dissident
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Kanye the First at The Mix, Walthamstow | Theatre review
The Fall at the Royal Court Theatre | Theatre review