Franken’s A.I. at McCadden Pl Theatre

A futuristic retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, on the 210th anniversary of its creation.

1816, villa Diodati, Geneva, Switzerland, the world is overcome by gloom after the eruption of the volcano on Mount Tambora. The atmospheric dust blocks sunlight in the stratosphere; it is the year without a summer and Lord Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley, John Polidori and Claire Clairmont are diverting themselves with ghost stories. Mary Shelley creates Frankenstein.

2036, Silicon Valley, California, global warming has reached such destructive highs that geoengineers have created an artificial volcano eruption to cool down the atmosphere. It is another year without a summer and Swiss engineer Victoria Franken creates an artificial companion meant to lead humans to their betterment.