It's a compelling creation

CLEARLY this is storytelling at its best with Mary Shelley’s classic horror tale portrayed in a most unique way.

Forget the likes of Hammer’s House of Horrors movies for here the descriptive prose created by John Ginman’s adaptation provides a compelling glimpse of good versus evil - how a mind, even a very clever one, which set off with the best of intentions could eventually be warped by ambition and guilt.

Rescued by the crew of a ship stuck in the frozen wastes of the far Northern hemisphere, which is where the story starts and ends, Victor Frankenstein (Ben Warwick) recalls how his life changed so inexplicably after attempting to help mankind with his creation.

The spurned creature in this outstanding Blackeyed Theatre production is not an actor but a scene-stealing towering and haunting puppet which sways between touching remorse and revenge through Louis Labovitch’s husky voice and the movements he and the other actors create so adeptly.

Warwick, who is one of an impressive five-strong ensemble, tells his story to the ship’s captain Robert Walton (Ashley Sean Cook) of how he came to be stranded in the frozen polar wilderness via his home, university, his laboratory and various countries. All slotted effectively into the action with Victoria Spearing’s stark but functional set providing not just the ship and those places where Frankenstein has been - but also throws in a mountain top and woodland.

It all works so well alongside Ron McAllister's music offered by cymbals and timpani - muffled or crashing at full blast for storms, the snapping of necks and the dramatic night of creation.

All the individual performances are extremely well articulated with other fine offerings from Max Gallagher as Frankenstein’s stoical friend Henry Clerval and Lara Cowin, his sensual “more than sister” Elizabeth.

The story throughout, and the way it’s recounted, is one of clarity from each of the cast of five who switch seamlessly into their various roles along with their adroit handling of Yvonne Stone’s puppet which appears to have rope and rubber for muscle and bone.

Part of this is down to Eliot Giuralarocca’s positive direction which allows the tale to flow seamlessly in whichever direction is required for maximum impact and would surely have earned Shelley’s stamp of approval.

But who at the end was the real monster? Creator or creature? Both were scary in their own way but they also had moving moments which deserved sympathy. However, monstrous ideas for revenge made each as culpable.