Horror… without horror?

Frankenstein is a short performance that dips its toes into something that could be very exciting.

Frankenstein is a world-famous classic that is iconic in several countries, written by a teenager back in 1818. It was actually the first story in the science fiction genre! Many different versions of this tale have been made, such as this version from Feil Teater at Det Norske Teatret, which tries its hand at “child-friendly horror”.

The beginning and end are among the best beginning and ending scenes I've ever seen in a theater. The performance starts with four of the characters in chorus telling a short version of what to expect. It was a really cool way to introduce the aesthetic the show has to offer with good flow and use of voice in the crosstalk. When they finish their intro, all the chorus characters move onto a staircase that will be used as the main part of the set design. The choir stands on the staircase and suddenly it starts to move slowly forward. I thought I was crazy in my head, because it looked extremely like a movie scene where the camera zooms closer and closer to the main object that you are supposed to focus on. It was a really cool way to pay homage to what Frankenstein is best known for, namely film. Another way they did it was also in the last 30 seconds of the performance. The story is over when Frankenstein and the Creature lie dead in their respective coffins. Then the stage curtains start to close, until it is about a third closed. Suddenly, there is a sound effect with a quick, gray light as the Creature sticks his hand out of his coffin. This mimicked what is called a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which was used for old films like Frankenstein. It was extremely cool direction, but unfortunately it was also the biggest highlight of this performance. 

What happened to Victor?

After the opening scene, the choir sits and is taught by their teacher. They throw in a little comedy here and there, and are therefore an otherwise good start. But then the door bursts open, and in comes … Victor Frankenstein? Before I start commenting on how I think they handled this character, I just want to say that I really like gender-swapped roles. Men playing women, and women playing men, but here unfortunately the line was crossed for me. In comes Victor Frankenstein, a teenage girl with a really crazy bitchy personality. This is supposed to represent Frankenstein, known as an ambitious, arrogant and not least intelligent man. But in this piece, the character is recognized as the most unintelligent girl in the class? I remember thinking that it was a bit strange, but that I should give it a chance. Unfortunately, these chances are becoming less and less tempting to give. The character reminded me a lot of an NRK children's TV series about vampires that aired when I was little, which removed a bit of the aesthetic that the choir had set up earlier with a more monster feel. The character also did a lot of screaming. There was so much screaming and yelling that when she finally managed to create the Creature and screamed even more in terror, those screams didn't stir any emotions in me anymore. It just became very tiring to listen to, and therefore the build-up to the middle of the piece wasn't particularly exciting. 

A too-quick turnaround

The creature got a nice part of its own that made us relate to him, even though he is a monster. After all the screaming, he runs away from Victor and ends up walking around in a forest. He sees a couple on a date and decides to go over and joke with them to have some fun, but unfortunately he can't speak, and he looks like a monster. That's why the couple gets scared of him and runs away. He gets very sad, but moves on. The scene ends at the house of an old lady who is sitting and playing the flute. The creature is so happy to hear it that he goes over to her and shows her love without being able to speak. But the old lady doesn't care what he looks like, because she is blind. She finds a flute and teaches the Creature how to play it. It becomes a very funny, but also calm moment in the performance where I actually sat and reflected a bit. The scene really showed that it is what is inside that counts the most, not always what is on the outside. It plays out further, and the Creature and the old lady become very good friends. She teaches him how to talk. As soon as he has learned it, then boom: The old lady collapses due to internal pain while a hunter looks on. The hunter of course thinks that it is the Creature who killed her, because of how he looks, and therefore chooses to attack. Which means that the old lady was really only meant as a plot element to give the Creature something to be mad about. I think it will be a very cheap ticket to the last part of the show and therefore also disappointing since they have just given a taste of what another version of the story could have been. 

Zero fear

As I've mentioned a few times already, there's a lot of screaming in this piece. It seems like they thought, the more screaming, the more scary. And while I understand they're trying to reach kids, it doesn't feel like there was much excitement in the audience either. Also, they have a recurring use of the word "fuck" . I was a little put off by it when I first heard it, because it was a little weird when it was meant for kids. But they kept using it and kept using it. I had no personal problem with it, but it ended up being used in a way to make kids think "WOW! Look at her, she's a real bad-ass teenager!!!" Again, less scary.

The set design was a pretty positive part of the show. It was set up in a really cool way, which made the scene changes easy, creative, but still fit the theme of the show nicely. Unfortunately, a lot of the “grim” magic disappeared when the actors played out too much humor, and the set design therefore became more inappropriate further into the play. 

Disappointing

All in all, I left the show quite disappointed. Not because I had the highest expectations in the world before I went in, but through the experience I saw an extremely large number of opportunities that they squandered. The main problem is probably how the play is written and some parts are also performed. It reminded me a lot of something that should have been a musical, only that the musicality is just not there. The music always sounds like a song build-up, the way they talk sounds like they are going straight into a group song, and the characters behave very musically with heavy mouth movements and rhythmic body movements. Almost a bit like they are in an identity crisis where they are not quite sure what they want to focus on the most.