Manual Cinema’s ‘Frankenstein’ – Adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley; Concept and Storyboards by Drew Dir; Devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, and Julia Miller; Original Music and Sound Design by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter. Presented by Arts Emerson, Emerson Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston, through February 26.
by Mike Hoban
Watching a Manual Cinema production is a lot like eating at the old Benihana in Cambridge – not only do you get to enjoy what you came for; you get to see how it’s made right in front of your eyes. But instead of chefs artfully chopping and slicing food over a flaming hibachi grill, the Chicago-based troupe uses puppets, shadow silhouette cutouts beamed via overhead projectors (yes, the ones from a 1970s high school biology class) to a giant screen, and a live band playing a veritable “mad scientist laboratory of instruments” to deliver a brilliant and original retelling of Frankenstein.
The Frankenstein story presented by Manual Cinema is a combination of biographical details from the life of Mary Shelley (who wrote Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus in 1818) that led to her writing the classic, and the actual novel itself. Shelley’s life was a bit of a horror story itself, as she and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley (the poet) had three of their children die soon after birth, causing Mary to fall into a deep depression. During that time, she dreamed that she was able to bring one of her lost babies back to life using an electrical charge, which formed the basis of the novel.
Told through a combination of live action, shadow puppetry using silhouettes, and actual puppetry, and set to a haunting score played by a live ensemble with vocals, Frankenstein is as imaginative as anything you’re likely to see onstage anywhere. While the audience is watching the black-and-white silent film (reminiscent of the 1922 German classic Nosferatu, complete with hand-lettered title cards), on the movie screen, we’re also watching the players scramble from overhead projector to live camera shots to create the action that we’re watching in real time, adding an almost surreal dimension to the awe-inspiring piece. The only problem with the production for audience members may be in trying to decide what to follow, as the theater/film-making process in real-time is nearly as fascinating as the onscreen story itself. In fact, one wonders if the show would be as enjoyable if seen as a standalone film.
As both Victor Frankenstein and Mary Shelley, Manual Cinema Co-Artistic Director Sarah Forance is a hoot as the wild-eyed mad scientist. With his dark-circled, meth bender eyes and fear oozing from every pore, he loses his grip on reality as he realizes what he has unleashed on an unsuspecting world when the monster escapes. Considering the gruesome nature of the story (there’s a pretty good body count if you recall the original story), this is a darkly funny production. It’s also a poignant commentary on the fear of the other and its consequences that play out every day in contemporary society.
Manual Cinema has established a wildly enthusiastic fan base in Boston (including this reviewer), having previously visited the ArtsEmerson Paramount Theater in 2018 with Ada/Ava, a dark New England Gothic story, and The End of TV, a look at the friendship between an older woman sliding into dementia and her younger counterpart. This has led to a completely sold-out run of the show, which has an all-too-short stay of just five days. If you’re lucky enough to score a ticket, sit back and enjoy the madness that is Manual Cinema. For more information, go to: https://artsemerson.org/events/frankenstein/
