The Frankenstein Summer: She's Created a Monster

Oh yeah, baby... You know how these wild weekends get started. Take a bunch of hot twenty-somethings who are into free love and mind-expanding substances... throw in an inexperienced 19-year-old with a willingness to learn... put them in an elegant setting where the constant rain keeps everyone inside and you know what's going to happen next... a literary competition!

At least that's the way it gets started in Catherine Bush's The Frankenstein Summer, now in its first full production courtesy of the Red Light District theatre company. Oh, sure -- there a bit of off-stage ribaldry in the works, but on stage this dramatization of an 1816 gathering which inspired Mary Wollstonecraft (soon to be better known as Mary Shelley) to pen her first work, the horror classic Frankenstein, focuses on artistic rivalries and clashes of wit.

When hotshot wunderkind Lord Byron (director Marc Geller) throws an intimate dinner at his Swiss villa for buddy Percy Shelley (Brad Malow), Shelley's bride to be, Mary (Abby Royle), her step-sister (also Byron's friend-with-occasional-benefits) Claire Clairmont (Tracey Gilbert) and unaccomplished hanger-on, Dr. John Polidori (Brendan McMahon), the most electric sparks flying are those of creative oneupmanship.

If I seem flippant and a bit too contemporary in describing these 19th Century figures, it's because Bush doesn't actually treat them as shadows from another age. Instead of searing passion, the play is more of a literary candy dish of sexually charged hijinks disguised as romance. This isn't a bad thing, just a little unexpected. And if the assorted seductions, jealousies, rivalries and eloquent barbs resulting from the claustrophobic circumstances aren't exactly delved into very deeply, they're certainly entertaining to watch.

The historical significant of the plot comes when Claire suggests they entertain themselves by seeing who can write the best horror story. Though Byron and Percy Shelley would seem the logical favorites in such a competition, it's Mary Shelley who is eventually led to consider the concept of scientifically-created life, resulting in the embryo of one of the English language's most famous novels. Not only that, but the little-regarded Polidori comes out of the weekend with the inspiration to create The Vampyre, the daddy of all vampire stories.

The cast plays their designated types very well, with Geller, as the pompous Lord Byron, enjoying the juiciest material. ("I consider you a friend, Shelley." / "But not your equal." / "Don't take it personally. I consider no one my equal.") Royle is a nicely intelligent and understated Mary Shelley, and Gilbert is fun as the sexually manipulating Claremont trying to score with the host. The "adult" in the piece is servant Fletcher, played with comical ineffectualness by Bill Roulet.

The design elements are exceptional for an Off-Off Broadway showcase. Aaron Mastin provides a handsome and realistic drawing room under Stephen Arnold's subtle lighting and Dennis Ballard dresses the company in very attractive period designs, especially for the men.

The Frankenstein Summer completes its run with 8:00 pm performances February 24-26 at The Phil Bosakowski Theatre, 354 West 45th Street. (between 8th and 9th Avenues) Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased by phone at (212) 352-3101 or by visiting www.TheaterMania.com.

 

Photos: Top: (l-r) Abby Royle and Marc Geller, Bottom: (l-r) Brad Malow and Marc Geller