FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

★★★

“There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre”

It’s a dark and chilly night in Hoxton and we have come to church. After a quick safety briefing, we are ushered down a perilous staircase and into the crypt. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, we enter a different world. The crypt has been dressed to look like a Victorian pub/brothel and the Victorian Gothic dress code (which I realised after the fact) makes it hard to tell who’s audience, and who’s performing. It is totally immersive.

After some introductory general old-timey improv, the play begins proper. It’s a reworking of Frankenstein, focussing on his early life and family. Much of the story is the same as the original, but with the crucial difference that the corpse he reanimates is his mother. It’s a fascinating idea, she is both his mother and his child, though this is only lightly explored. The changes to the original story seem a little random, and occasionally quite repetitive, but it does make it feel fresher.

This play is immersive, meaning there are multiple scenes at once, and theoretically the audience can wander between them. It takes a bit of time but soon the audience feel comfortable following the sound of the most interesting room. A classic problem with immersive theatre is feeling like you’re missing something in another room. I confidently strode into a room, where crucial action had been taking place throughout the show, only to find myself (and several uncomfortable audience members) trapped watching a man rearrange a table. But the play is carefully constructed so you cannot miss vital moments, and missing some of it is part of the fun.

“The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random”

Nicholas Benjamin’s directing was impressive. The logistical side of things was executed really well, with audience shepherded from space to space and most of the scene transitions flagged fairly naturally. He played the role of Robert Walton, which allowed him, as narrator, to move us around without disturbing the main action. This is a play which is primarily focussed on world building, and an ambitious vision, which it does execute well, especially in terms of the set design, which is evocative.

Unfortunately, the script, devised by Benjamin and the cast, was a bit all over the place. There’s a chaotic mix of improv, quotes from the novel, and original dialogue. The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random.

An absolute shining element of this piece is Nadia Lamin as Viktor’s Mother/The Creature. Her performance is arresting and disturbing. A moment where she is writhing and contorting across the room is made all the more horrifying by the intimacy of the space. Piers Mackenzie as William Frankenstein (Viktor’s younger brother) is also very strong, consistently using his natural comic timing to bring laughter into the space.

There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre, created by movement director Chris Evans. These are performed to Nick White’s Victorian style reworkings of pop songs, something which seems to be increasingly popular, perhaps since Bridgerton. This works well for the live songs, which are exciting and energetic, but feels a bit inconsistent when it is recorded, perhaps because so much of the show is condensed into the space, and this suddenly takes us out of it.

The immersive element is well executed, and worth a visit for that alone. The story itself is a bit weaker, but it is an enjoyable experience overall.

FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

Reviewed on 4th October 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Roj Whitelock

 

 

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Frankenstein

Frankenstein

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