Frankenstein, Catford Broadway Theatre

by Emily Hardy

"We are sadly short of great new plays... Our theatrical skills at the moment seem to lie more in interpretation than in original creation."

(M.Billington 10.3.10)

You can't fail to notice the increasing number of popular and classic novels being adapted for stage; I've seen three adaptations this fortnight alone and am assisting on a production of another. Maybe it's because branded, familiar titles sell tickets, or maybe there's temptation among practitioners to theatricalise their favourite stories - the ones that stimulate their imaginations? The reason behind the trend is not important; what matters is that each adaptation, based either loosely or closely upon its literary stimulus, is approached and executed in a unique manner. There's the experimental tack of FallOut Theatre's The Cement Garden, for example, or the layered approach of Local Girls Productions' Boxer Beetle (taking two seemingly disconnected stories and fusing them together to form a satisfying denouement). And then there's this...

The Broadway Theatre's in house company have devised a modern interpretation of Frankenstein for a contemporary (scientifically advanced) audience. It depends on the novel of course, but it takes a degree of courage to adapt a well-known, much loved piece of literature. This modernisation, devised by director Cameron Jack and developed cumulatively by the company, is not consistently strong enough to deliver a revolutionary perspective on Mary Shelley's seminal novel. Paradoxically, it feels dated in places. But equally I wouldn't recommend just staying home and curling up with the original either because there are elements to this incarnation that work and one particular performance that makes the short train journey to Catford Broadway Theatre worth the while.

The old-fashioned raked studio space has metamorphosed into a "top secret, government research laboratory" intended for creating the perfect soldier. The simple, white design functions on a practical level but actually resembles a hospital ward. If this is a deliberate choice, it contributes to the humanisation of Dr Frankenstein’s creation, here renamed Adam 1.

Whilst the narrative has received an injection of 21st Century relevance, the conventional theatrics lack skill, imagination and inventiveness. There's nothing modern about the under-choreographed, over-long transitions, for example, even if the Drive soundtrack has been used to accompany them. I was also surprised by the inclusion of severely marginalised female characters, rendered simply as obstacles to scientific progression. That said, the production interestingly redefines the father/son relationship, elucidated by Steve Mace as a heady, brooding Dr Frankenstein and Joel Phillimore as the 'malfunctioning' Adam 1. Is this the modern image of an archetypal, dysfunctional family? A family of the future? Try as he might, the Doctor's methodological endeavours are in vain; the creature/creator relationship is doomed from the start because, as in Jurassic Park, "nature will find a way."

The cast are at varying levels of skill and experience. However, in a league of his own (and responsible for the aforementioned performance worth the journey), is Joel Phillimore. An adroit physical performer, Phillimore uses his long, strong body and limbs to map the steady development of Adam's mind.Emulating the birth of a baby bird - both fascinated and fearful of the world and those within in - Phillimore invents a believable, modern 'monster', guilty only of being made. This intelligent and sensitive actor takes the audience on a captivating, independent journey, re-writing one of literature's most famous characters for a 21st Century audience so that our sympathy lies with him - even when he commits his violent acts of revenge. Phillimore’s embodiment of Adam 1 elevates this adaptation, where the 'monster' is no longer a monster, but an abandoned victim of human experimentation gone wrong.

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