Frankenstein Manual Cinema Experience Review

On Thursday November 15, I went with other English students and saw the play, Frankenstein. The book was written by Mary Shelly but the play was devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, and Julia Miller. At first I was told it was going to be a puppet play and I thought that it was going to be hand puppets and it got me really discouraged. Once the play started I realized that it was more than hand puppets. It was super interesting to see how everything was open to the audience. There was a big screen which you could view the play from or you could see the play piece by piece on stage. It was like a silent film, with paper puppets, filming with shadows, and filming in black and white. There was no talking script so the music took it's place. I found it amazing that the music brought out the tone for the specific scenes. The play was very intriguing and portrayed the more important details of the book. Though some scenes of the book were cut out, it still followed the story line and the audience could follow along without having to have read the book beforehand. Overall the play was fantastic and I loved it. I would love to see more adaptations of other plays and books in this form of art.

Thoughts About Frankenstein

Before going to see the play Frankenstein, I had a different idea in my mind on how they were going to show it. When we actually got there and started watching, I realized it wasn't anything like I thought. They displayed it in a very unique way. A way I've never seen before. Even though it wasn't like a normal play that I'm used to, with people acting on stage, I think it was really cool. Having it be manual cinema, we really got to see exactly what and how they were doing the things behind the scenes, instead it was actually on stage in front of us. Though there was no dialect, I still was able to follow the story. I also think that it was really great how it was an all female cast. Girls rock, of course.

Music and Storytelling

The manual cinema adaptation of Frankenstein performed at the Court Theater was something very new to me. I was expecting there to be a live performance, but to my surprise the company did not execute the show with dialogue and acting. Instead they worked with overhead projectors, shadow puppetry, live film and many other moving parts to tell the story on stage and on screen. I could tell that there was a lot of work put into the production of this show and I was pleasantly surprised with the execution and how well I was able to understand the plot with little previous knowledge of the original story. When we first arrived, I was afraid that I would not be able to keep up with the story, but the use of music definitely helped. This is why, of all the the intricate parts of the play, the  automatic soundtracks and live music ensemble was the element that caught and kept my attention the most. Being that this performance had no audible dialogue, the music helped me to know when the atmosphere of the story was changing, how the characters interacted with each other, and when something very important was happening. It sets the tone for the entire scene and guides the audience towards what emotions they should feel at that point in the story. Music whether it be in movies, television shows, or plays like this one, has always been something that helps to enhance storytelling for me.