Merchistoun Hall

Merchistoun Hall on a dark autumnal evening was the perfect setting for a brand new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the story re-animated by professional touring theatre Proteus Theatre Company.

A small cast of just 5 versatile performers told two stories linked together by the nightmare created on that fateful dark night on the shores of Lake Geneva. A story that resounds & bears such relevance to the world we live in today!

The production was set against a back drop of a simplistic yet highly effective set of created from a backdrop of cloth with hand drawn pictures of the human body dissected & draped across it on a rope. The furniture design was from an era of long ago … wording that bled in to darkness re-told some of the pertinent lines from the script through projection on to the scenery itself, all complimented by original and haunting music.

Simplicity was the key word in this production – a removal of a jacket & a subtle change of lighting would inform the audience that Shelley’s husband would soon become Victor Frankenstein in another story ….  the placing of an eerily created head bandage would allow the character to transform from Byron into the hideous yet tortured monster.  This illusion was enhanced further by the monster looking down on the scene in play from the heights of a simple ladder, the creature lumbering and inquisitive & animal like reactions to those actions unfolding in front of him.  The simple putting on of a pinnie whilst in one character would transform Mary Shelley from one story into Elizabeth in the horror fantasy.

Even the the use of a delicate paper puppet was also cleverly employed to symbolise the fragility of the child involved & the fate it endures in both stories.

The play explored the ensuing pain and anguish of all the characters from Byron & Mary through Victor and his creation – all as a consequence of that fateful decadent evening on the shores of Lake Geneva.

The company then spent quality time with members of our own MHYouth Arts in a post show event discussing the plan of MHYouth Arts and how the production of Frankenstein took shape from page to stage.