Lookingglass Theatre Company Presents The World Premiere Of Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written and directed by Ensemble Member David Catlin, from the book by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein runs May 8 August 4, 2019 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. Tickets are now on sale. The press performance is Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Within every man there is a monster; within every monster, a man. But which is which? An eerie evening of ghost stories crackles to life as Mary Shelley unspools her tale of Victor Frankenstein and his unholy experiment. This gothic tale of love, horror, and the power to create life and destroy it awakens in this visceral, original retelling of Frankenstein. Fresh from the brain of Ensemble Member David Catlin, creator of Moby Dick and Lookingglass Alice, comes a galvanic adaptation of this undying story. See for yourself this latest invention come to shocking life!

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is recommended for ages 12+.

I'm fascinated by the blur between Mary Shelley's story of creation, rejection, and destruction and her own life of love, loss, and abandonment. How does the human heart survive desolation and misery? notes director David Catlin. We're collaborating with the Actors Gymnasium to bring Frankenstein's haunting ghosts high into the air above and have five extraordinary actors digging deep to animate this story that continues to unsettle us two hundred years after it was written.

The cast includes Artistic Associate Walter Briggs (Percy Bysshe Shelley), with Debo Balogun (Dr. John Polidori), Cordelia Dewdney (Mary Shelley), Keith D. Gallagher (Lord Byron), and Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel (Claire Clairmont).

The creative team includes Ensemble Member Daniel Ostling (scenic design), Sully Ratke (costume design), William C. Kirkham (lighting design), Artistic Associate Rick Sims (sound design/composition), Artistic Associate Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (circus design), Rigability Inc (rigging design), Amanda Herrmann (properties design), Linda Gates (dialect coach), and Mary Hungerford (stage manager).

Following the run in Chicago, Lookingglass will bring Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey for a three-week run in the fall. Lookingglass has previously partnered with McCarter to present its groundbreaking production of Lookingglass Alice to Princeton audiences.

Flex pass subscriptions are still on sale for the 2018 2019 Season. Performances will be held at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

The Gglasspass is a flex pass available to all ages. For $200, Gglasspass holders receive 4 tickets that can be used in any combination and denomination for any Lookingglass production in the 2018 2019 season. The Madhatter's Club flex pass is available to those 35 or younger. The Madhatter's Club flex pass is $100 and includes 4 tickets that members can use in any combination and denomination for any Lookingglass production in the 2018-2019 season. For season subscription and ticket information, call the Lookingglass Theatre box office at (312) 337-0665 or visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

REFLECT Panels

Dive even deeper into the world of the play with the Lookingglass REFLECT Series! This specially-curated series of post-show conversations and panels offers audiences an opportunity to think, hear, and talk about the performance they just experienced. Hear in-the-field experts offer their insights and leading artists give a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Lookingglass creative process. REFLECT post-show discussions are free and open to the public, and take place directly following the 2:00 p.m. matinee on select Sundays at Lookingglass Theatre.

For the most up-to-date schedule information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org/reflect.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein REFLECT Panel Series Schedule

June 23, 2019

The Creator and The Creature
When most people hear the name Frankenstein, they think of the monster rather than the doctor who stitched together organs and flesh into an animate being. But which of the two is more monstrous? With whom, if either, do your sympathies lie? Is the creator responsible for the acts of their creation?

June 30, 2019

The Monstrous Feminine
Mary Wollstonecraft was only 18 years old when she wrote the novel she later called her hideous progeny. Yet she'd already learned both the expectations of, and limitations on, the women of her era. How much of the novel reflects her relationship with her lover, the severe parameters for her gender, and the challenges to her own body?

July 14, 2019

A Gothic Gathering
Presented in Partnership with The Poetry Foundation
When Lord Byron, Percy Byshhe Shelley, Dr. John Polidori, and Mary Wollstonecraft gathered in a chateau to spin ghost stories, no one could have known we'd still be haunted two hundred years later. How did this critical mass of poetic minds come together? How did their work influence each other and shake the literary world, and what is their legacy?

July 21, 2019

The Perpetual Double-edged Sword
Frankenstein was one of the first modern novels to ask whether scientific exploration is our ally or our enemy. Yet every advance in technology bio-engineering, genetic modification, cloning, etc. poses new ethical questions. Should there be limits on experimentation? Do the inventor's intentions matter? How do we balance our insatiable appetite for what's next with not knowing what it will bring?

July 28, 2019

The Creatures and Their Creators
This year, four Chicago theaters brought some version of Mary Shelley's monster to their audiences. Join us for a conversation with the lead artists as they reflect back on what they saw on each other's stages, what they learned over the course of their own journey, and their fantasies and nightmares about the looming future.

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