Danny Boyle's much hyped stage production of
Frankenstein begins at the National Theatre in London next Tuesday (though it's previewing now) and will continue through March, starring
Johnny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) and
Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock) in the lead roles. The real selling point of the play, I'm told, is that Miller and Cumberbatch have both prepared performances as both Frankenstein and his monster - and depending on which night you attend, will determine which performance you see. A pretty neat gimmick and one that will no doubt get a few people buying multiple tickets to see how both performances compare. Here's a newly released and compelling trailer for the production; With not living in London myself, I'm often frustrated by not being able to see such cool shows on stage but the really great thing about Boyle's Frankenstein is that the plan is to broadcast a performance live in HD, via satellite to 375 screens across the world, on March 17th. Add to that, the U.K. and Europe will get a second chance to see it on March 24th (with the roles reversed). A full list of venues showing the performance, including those in South Africa!, are listed
HERE. Written by
Nick Dear and of course adapted from the legendary Mary Shelley novel, Boyle's Frankenstein will excitedly showcase music from Underworld and if it's a hit, as usually happens with stage productions, a film deal could soon follow. With Frankenstein out of copyright, it certainly wouldn't take much to finance a production - and many another Hollywood studio's already have the idea with several scripts in development.
AICN have a review of a preview;
I saw one of the preview performances with Jonny Lee Miller as the creature. Very good play, clever production. There's not a huge amount for Frankenstein to do in terms of performance to be honest, it's very much the creature's play. I've never been a fan of Miller but he changed my perception of him as a result of his very well controlled performance. Some of the supporting cast (or maybe just the parts themselves) are a bit ropey, but it was a preview after all. The production makes very good use of the space of the stage, elements of the scenery dropping down from the ceiling or rising up from the floor as necessary etc. They're broadcasting them as live to cinemas in March. I'll be seeing the Cumberbatch as creature version for sure. Can't quite imagine him as the creature yet.