Review: FRANKENSTEIN: AN IMMERSIVE SHOW, Crypt, St. Peter's Church

Victor Frankenstein: the character who changed the history of literature, who started a brand new genre, who inspired uncountable authors over the ages. Midnight Circle really stress the fact that Frankenstein is the name of the doctor, not his creature. Though, in this case, the creature is also a Frankenstein… it isn’t a faithful adaptation. The creative team rejigs the story, refocusing it on Victor’s grief more than his ambition and delivering a revision of the original material. Atmospheric and spooky just enough, the production might be flawed, but it makes for a respectably sinister evening.

Set in the Crypt of St Peter’s Church in Bethnal Green, it’s safe to say that the adventure starts from the very walk to the venue. Director Nicholas Benjamin places the action inside the memories of Victor Frankenstein, creating a sort of mind palace for the audience to explore. The piece itself is promenade rather than properly immersive and features dashes of the recent trend of letting the public discover the plots themselves.

The result, however, is a fragmented experience due to the degree of independent choice given in the first part combined with the strict narrative. It’s slightly frustrating to hear jolly cheers coming from the other room while you’re intruding on Doctor Frankenstein’s heart-to-heart with his father - as it must be to be missing out on it.

There are some goofy transitions and other creases that need to be ironed out, but the company is committed and convincing (except when they act out their deaths). Forget the expectation of witnessing a monster rise up from a slab while thunder crashes and lightning strikes and embrace the resignation of family therapy. Victor’s trail holds nuggets of philosophical investigations and ethical questions, but these are speedily overtaken to reiterate his obsessive fixation of defeating death.

The project glosses over Mary Shelley’s ultimate moral and many of her storylines, whittling down a show that could be so much more. The reframing of the Frankensteins and the allegorical curse that plagues them is deeply intriguing, but it doesn’t highlight Shelley’s true genius. They watered down the plot and simplified its poetic justice, progressively reducing Frankenstein’s curiosity to a worsening psychological burden and dissipating any hope for his redemption.

Benjamin’s study of Victor’s mental health is exceptionally refreshing, but ends up feeling a tad apocryphal in the context, especially when considering the major changes to Shelley’s narrative. All in all, it’s a decently eerie night out in the lead-up to Halloween, but it isn't the must-see version of Frankenstein it could be yet. 

Frankenstein: An Immersive Show runs in the Crypt of St Peter's Church in Bethnal Green until 14 October.

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