So you think you know the Frankenstein story? With so many iterations of this 200-year-old story, it’s hard to believe we know how it all started. Our review of Frankenstein at Theatre Royale.

Frankenstein, the play, is currently running at the Theatre Royal Sydney – and if you don’t believe that live theatre can recreate horror, and you think you know who the villain is, prepare to be surprised.

This Shake and Stir production of Mary Shelley’s original creation – lots of fascinating history here, but I’ll save that for another time – demonstrates how far theatre has come in embracing multi-media and sensory experiences. The brilliant use of smoke and giant screens really gives the stage a genuinely eerie feel.

But at the centre of it all is a story about a scientist who creates life. In an age of AI when we’re all worried about what place we have in the future, it resonates. The problem: the life Frankenstein creates – yes, the scientist is Frankenstein, not the monster – is hideously ugly.

Now, in today’s world this would be no problem. Woke society would demand equal rights for hideous monsters, and they would regularly appear in the media outing scientists who refused to acknowledge them as “human”. Two centuries ago, things were different. And our monster just wants a mate. Frankenstein, its creator, is both ethically challenged and weak.

No happy ending

It’s a story with no happy ending. But certainly a modern-day parable with many reasons for us to relate.

This adaption first appeared in Brisbane last year, and has been in Melbourne. It is at the Theatre Royal in Sydney for just a short run. Its stagecraft is clever, and the cast is brilliant. Jeremiah Wray as the creature (I’m not saying monster because I’m going to let you make up your own mind) brings a believability to a difficult role, while Darcy Brown plays Frankenstein.

There are plenty of shocks and surprises along the way. And if you need to steady your nerves at the interval, there is always a Frankentini or Elixir of Life cocktail at the bar!