L-R Nate Santana, Andrea San Miguel, Rebecca Marie Hurd & Ty Danning. Courtesy of Zach Rosing. Used with permission.
Led by new Margot Eccles Artistic Director Benjammin Hanna and Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney. the Indiana Repertory Theatre launched its 51st season Friday, Sept. 22, on the OneAmerica Mainstage with “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” Mary Shelley’s 1818 horror novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” adapted by playwright David Catlin.
Ty Danning – Courtesy of Zach Rosing. Used with permission.
The gripping drama depicts the night that Shelley, her poet husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and three other real-life literary companions gathered in villa in Geneva Switzerland for an indulgent, freewheeling evening of scary storytelling.
Shelley, a maverick writer, who is regarded as one of the world’s greatest, trailblazing, feminist authors, recounts the story of Frankenstein. who was created by a scientific genius of the same name who brings to life a hideous creature who eventually stalks and terrifies him. A pop culture favorite. the epistolary story, which explores love, grief, horror, and the power to create—or destroy—life. is regarded as one of the earliest examples of science fiction and considered groundbreaking for its subject matter and themes.
The production’s five-member ensemble, all of whom are out of town actors, were directed proficiently by Risa Brainin, a former IRT associate artistic director who was mentored by Janet Allen, the theatre’s former, now retired, artistic director. The agile cast, all of whom played multiple roles were Terry Bell (John Polidari, Henry & others), Ty Fanning (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Victor Frankenstein & others), Rebecca Marie Hurd (Mary Godwin, Elizabeth & Others), Andrea San Miguel (Clare Clairmont, Mother & Others) and Nate Santana (Lord Byron, The Creature & Others). All uniformly and exceptionally nimble actors, under Brainin’s inspired supervision, they shifted from character to character with seamless ease, in a bravura performance.
Ty Danning, Rebecca Marie Hurd & Terry Bell – Courtesy of Zach Rosing. Used with permission.
Also impressive, as is usual for IRT productions, were the contributions made by the seasoned members of the creative team which consists of Carey Wong who designed the ingenious, well-crafted set, Devon Painter whose costumes imaginably captured the 19th century era, and Micheal Klaers’s effective lighting design that provided the necessary Gothic ambiance. Standing out was Melanie Chen Cole’s original music and sound design which made for the necessary chilling atmosphere filled with foreboding dread.
Setting the mood for Halloween and Day of The Dead season that is upon us, “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is finely produced, well-executed piece of escapism, with a message guaranteed to entertain yet is thought provoking at the same time.
“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” continues at Indiana Repertory Theatre through Oct. 14. For tickets and information visit irtlive.com.
