The Gothics: Frankenstein Review

Originally published on Avenoir Magazine, in July 2016.

The story of Frankenstein and his monster is an infamous piece of gothic literature, so it seems only fitting that it would be the story to close this three show series. Sometimes misunderstood, with some confusing Frankenstein as the creature and not the Doctor who resurrected him, the story of Frankenstein was authentically brought to life by Second Chance Theatre, telling the tale in flashbacks as Victor confesses to everything he has done.

The Gothics is a three-show production consisting of Dracula, The Mummy Rises and Frankenstein, with a different theatre company producing each show.

“Victor Frankenstein. Son, brother, fiancé, student, and murderer. A man obsessed with the line between life and death. A line that he crosses and a Creature that is born in lightning and dead flesh. Two souls that cannot exist without each other and destined to destroy the other, so who is the real monster?”

Once again, The Gothics have redecorated their exquisite set to breathe new life into it for the third time. This time they had their work cut out for them as Victor Frankenstein visits many locations whilst he is telling his story to Captain Walton. From his childhood home, to medical school, and the leaky attic where he resurrects the Creature; there are many locations that have to be alluded to, and I think that they did quite a good job with it.

Something worth mentioning about with The Gothics series is how incredibly authentic their costumes have been. The costuming department for all three shows should be applauded; every character’s outfit is a perfect fit for the time period they are portraying. This series has been their best yet for costumes.

The standout performance for this show was definitely Laughton McKenzie as The Creature. He embodied the power and strength of Frankenstein’s monster, as well as the softer more fragile side of his personality, the broken man who was abandoned by his creator and shunned by society, just looking for love and acceptance. Laughton played this dynamic character very well. The makeup department should similarly be applauded for Laughton’s look, as it was very realistic and visually stunning.

Other notable performances, Rhianna Hall as Captain Walton, she embodied her character brilliantly, and her scenes with Victor worked really well as they had great chemistry onstage. Izzy McDonald who played Victor’s mother, Caroline Frankenstein, was incredibly eerie whilst she was haunting Victor and pushing him to complete his vision of resurrection.

Scott McArdle portrayed Victor Frankenstein and was also the Director for this show. Unfortunately, the original actor for Victor had to pull out right before the week started, and I think it would have been interesting to see the show as Scott originally intended it to be. Whilst Scott did well, you could see that his strengths lie more behind the scenes than onstage.

Overall the show was good, a variety of characters all getting their moment to shine, with excellent use of lighting to enhance the story. But unfortunately, I don’t think this was as polished as the previous two shows. Perhaps it could have been first night jitters, but not all parts seemed to gel as well as one would like. Also a note on the story, I wasn’t completely sold on Henry having been in love with Victor, the story didn’t seem to really set that up so it felt a little rushed.

However, overall the cast and crew did a spectacular job with this, and I think The Gothics was an outstanding success and I hope more series like this one happen in the future because the intricate little links throughout all three shows were wonderful to watch.

Read the reviews for Dracula and The Mummy Rises here.