Dallas Children's Theater opened Thomas Olson's spine-tingling adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein on October 24, 2003. And everything about this production is first-rate except the script. With its numerous flashbacks and chronological time shifts -- constantly going back and forth between present and past -- the action is difficult for all but the tutored children to comprehend. (Speaking as someone who followed it, I simply don't think the play is all that good.) But the technical aspects are superb. Zak Herring's stark, abstract, multi-level set is a visual treat, enhanced by Linda Blase's ethereal lighting design. Prop designer Kineta Massey's Rube Goldberg-like contraption that shocks the Monster to life provides comic relief to this otherwise macabre tale. Leila Heise's costumes and the Monster's make-up are first-rate.
Singling out a best actor would be difficult, for as director, Artie Olaisen has chosen the perfect cast. Still, if I had to single out anyone it would be Rosemary Kolbo as Frau Schmidt and Douglass Burks as The Creature. They both totally inhabit their characters.
This horror story relates the tale of a young medical student, Victor Frankenstein (Brian Witkowicz), who is inconsolable following his mother's death. Trying to sort out its meaning, he searches for the secret to life. To this end, he hires a gravedigger (James Hoult) to steal corpses so Victor can create a new life. He succeeds in creating a Monster who is helpless and unable to speak. Then Victor abandons him. The Creature searches for friendship but repels and frightens all the sighted with whom he comes in contact. He only wants kindness and friendship, and when it is not forthcoming, he exacts his revenge. (There is all kinds of subtext to this Frankenstein relating to man's purpose in life and his responsibility to his fellow man.)
The children in the audience respond enthusiastically, but the best way for an adult to enjoy this adaptation of "Frankenstein" is with earplugs, so you can revel in the visual feast without being subjected to this disjointed script.
