ArtsEmerson Presents Manual Cinema's FRANKENSTEIN

ArtsEmerson, Boston's leading presenter of contemporary world theater and film and the professional presenting and producing organization of Emerson College, announced the return of Manual Cinema with a thrilling version of the classic Gothic tale, Frankenstein from February 22 - 26, 2023.

After captivating Boston audiences with Ada/Ava in 2018 and The End of TV in 2019, the ingenious artists of Manual Cinema's Frankenstein will bring animation, puppetry, live music, and a gothic twist that electrifies Mary Shelley's classic novel for a new generation to the Emerson Paramount Center's Robert J. Orchard Stage.

Using more than 500 handmade puppets, old school projectors, as well as live actors, a music ensemble and cinematic elements, the Chicago-based performance collective imaginatively stitches together the classic tale of Frankenstein with the biography of its author, Mary Shelley, to create an unexpected story about the beauty and horror of creation. The real-life and fictional narratives of Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein's monster expose how family, community, and education shape personhood - or destroy it by their absence.

"There's the Frankenstein that many know, and then there is Manual Cinema's version," says ArtsEmerson Executive Director David C. Howse. "Chicago's Manual Cinema does something completely fresh and visually stunning. Our audiences will know that ArtsEmerson's relationship with Manual Cinema goes back many years. With every production our audiences are amazed by the work of Manual Cinema and Frankenstein does not disappoint. Through impressive puppetry and projections, their take on this well-known tale and on its author's life is as timely as ever, zeroing in on the importance of community and connection in shaping who we are."

"Manual Cinema is thrilled to return to ArtsEmerson with Frankenstein!," says Manual Cinema Co-Artistic Director Sarah Forance. "This is our third show here, and we had an incredible time when we brought Ada/Ava in 2018 and End of TV in 2019. The audiences at ArtsEmerson are also so smart, curious, and welcoming. We think that everyone will love Frankenstein, which is our biggest and most complex show with robot percussionists, shadow puppetry, silent cinema, dark comedy, and a sweeping score performed by a live chamber ensemble. However, like Ada/Ava and End of TV, the heart of the show is its emotional storytelling about empathy, love, loss, and the ways in which humans need to take care of each other (and, in the case of Frankenstein, what happens when there is a failure of care and empathy)."

Tickets for Frankenstein may be purchased 24/7 at ArtsEmerson.org, or by calling 617-824-8400 (Tue-Sat from 12:00PM ET - 6:00PM ET). The Paramount Center Box Office (559 Washington Street, Boston) is open for walk-up service Thu-Sat from Noon - 6:00 PM ET. Tickets start at $25. Groups of 10+ attending a performance save up to 30%.

Thanks to generous support from Rockland Trust, a limited number of $10 Mobile Rush tickets will be available at 10:00 AM ET each performance day on a first-come, first-served basis, exclusively through the TodayTix mobile app. For more information, please click on "General Public'' when you visit ArtsEmerson's Offers web page.

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