As movie director Danny Boyle is slumming it on the theatrical stage with his version of Frankenstein (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller at the National Theater in London), here’s a roundup of rave Frankenstein reviews:
“Fans of Danny Boyle’s movies such as Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours will not be surprised to learn that his return to the stage directing a new play at the National Theatre based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a breathtaking mix of intimate drama and spectacular imagery.” – from THR
“Space, scale and connection inform Boyle’s approach to the classic Frankenstein tale throughout. The performance proper (two hours without interval) begins with a blinding flash of light from an enormous array of light bulbs covering about half of the ceiling; this, and its repetitions, are the electric charges that jolt the Creature into life as it falls out of a huge membranous pouch.” – from FT
“As a piece of staging, it is brilliant. But, before listing its virtues, one has to concede that Boyle and Dear, in focusing more on the victim than on Victor, downplay some of Shelley’s themes.” – read more from Guardian
“Arresting visual imagery is never in short supply here. And the scene in which Victor introduces a potential bride for his monster (embodied by Andreea Padurariu) is a quiet, shivery knockout.” – read more from NY