Review: Theater Works Presents Gialanella's FRANKENSTEIN

The eerie mood music of cellist and composer Wesley Skinner and violin accompanist Dana Zhou. A brilliant recreation of a mad scientist's laboratory. Startling sound and light effects ~ and a substantial amount of haze. The ever relevant theme of man's quest to play God. All of which set the Theater Works stage for a reenactment of Victor Frankenstein's ill-fated exercise to "reanimate life" but do little to compensate for a performance that plods along like the iconic monster at the center of Victor Gialanella's torturous FRANKENSTEIN.

Who doesn't love an adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic? Certainly, there have been enough, and many a fine one, from which to select for Halloween season. However, a little bit of research reveals that Gialanella's was a one-performance Broadway flop (albeit starring such luminaries as John Carradine, Dianne Wiest, and John Glover). Warning enough, but the irresistible challenge for any producer is to make lemonade out of a theatrical lemon. Director Chris Hamby and his Theater Works ensemble don't quite get there, however. Stodgy deliveries, misplaced screams, and drawn out pauses between lines create a heaviness that begs to be lifted.

I will give credit, however, to Adam Cantrell, who, after a 26-year hiatus from the stage, has returned to embody the creature with a fair amount of voltage.

FRANKENSTEIN continues its run through October 29th in the Gyder Theater at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts.

Photo credit to John Groseclose