Frankenstein, Nation Theatre Live

Frankenstein by the National Theatre Live,  starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller (from Hackers!). Filmed live, the result is simulcast to movie theaters. I missed seeing it last year, since the closest theater showing it was 100 miles away. This year, the NTLive newsletter from June told me it would be playing at my local theater and I bought a ticket that day.

The play is based on the book, so many might not have really known what was going to be in it.  In fact, on the way oyt I heard an older man asked if it was bad on the book,  after an older woman said it wasn't what she expected and didn't like it. I assured him they did a very good job. It was condensed, as it would have to be, and done in such a way that the disjointed, jarring nature played well with the grotesque and tragic acting, set, and direction. It was fantastic.

When on stage,  Miller and Cumberbatch switched roles each night. I'd kind of hoped they'd present the filmed version with them alternating scenes. They showed the version where Cumberbatch played the Creature the whole time. While I thought him fantastic, and Miller made Frankenstein detestable,  I would love to see them reversed.

Seriously though, can we talk about this steampunk interlude?

I happened to come across this Atlas Obscura article on Galvanism, in their "31 days of Halloween" series. Galvanism was one of the processes Frankenstein said he studied, leading him to create the Creature. It's the process of making muscles jump by forcing electrical current into the tissue (a real thing that really works, though it won't "enliven" it). The article is a short history lesson on the subject! I don't want to simple repost all their hard work, so check it out!

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-real-electric-frankenstein-experiments-of-the-1800s