“The monster asks, ‘Are you a good man?’ and Victor says, ‘What do you mean?’ and the monster says, ‘Are you a good man? It’s a simple question,’ and Victor says, ‘I don’t know?’”
Director Ian Case explains that this scene reflects the very essence of the much-loved classic Frankenstein, which he and his team have brought to the stage at Theatre Inconnu.
“This adaptation of Frankenstein is really about Victor and his story,” says Case. “What motivates him? Why he is so obsessed with this idea of bringing the dead back to life? I’ve always been fascinated with the anti-hero, like the Batman character. He works alongside the police, but in many incarnations Batman has been very much the outsider.”
In the same way, Victor Frankenstein is very much the outsider. Case explains that this play really investigates Frankenstein’s loneliness and how he pushes people away.
“He pushes his father away. He stands apart from his fiancée, who he deeply loves but he doesn’t know how to communicate with. Even his best friend Clerval—he clearly loves Clerval and Clerval clearly loves him, but they don’t know how to communicate,” says Case. “There is a lot of male energy in Frankenstein and I think Mary Shelley spent a great deal of time around men and recognized it. Lord Byron was a scourge on Europe and there certainly is a bit of Byron in both Victor and the monster. I think this is partly her commentary on toxic masculinity, to a certain extent.”
Case says he’s excited to direct a piece of such quality. He says that over the course of his research into the book, he grew a special respect for young authors like Shelley, who was only 20 at the time of the book’s publication.
“There’s something incredibly brave about the work of young artists,” he says, “because they are unfettered by convention and unfettered by those sort of voices that say, ‘You can’t do that, you shouldn’t be telling this story, you should be telling it that way.’ They just sit down, and they write it.”
The piece will be performed in the round, with the audience in a circle around the stage. Case hopes this setting will provide for an intimate performance, as well as the opportunity to give the audience a few surprises. He says that everyone should be able to get something out of this timeless tale.
“It taps into our fear, our fear of death, our fascination with what lies after,” says Case. “As technology continues to increase and we have access to more information and opportunities, at what point do we make the decision to prolong life beyond the natural realm? The basic question of making extreme choices and living with consequences—those things never go away.”
Frankenstein
Until Saturday, October 13
$10 to $24, Theatre Inconnu
theatreinconnu.com