Frankenstein’s monster’s days of being the Jolly Green Giant with screws in his neck are out the door, at least for the tastes of those who put together this year’s performance at Strother Theatre.
Sophomore Nick Murhling, who plays the Creature hounded by angry villagers, portrayed a sympathetic, contorted character dressed in patched rags in the Ball State production of “Frankenstein” that premiered for its first weekend with sold-out shows.
The creature is brought to life on stage through grave robbing of limbs. After Dr. Victor Frankenstein digs up the five bodies, the stage is filled with echoing groans from the ensemble as he disassembles the corpses.
The music halts and the room is silent. The Creature takes his first breath, and the lights fade to black.
The Ball State theatre department wrote its own adaptation of “Frankenstein” based on Mary Shelley’s book.
“Seven weeks ago, the show didn’t exist,” Murhling said.
He said assistant professor Drew Vidal, director and adapter, was open to input in creating the show. Vidal allowed Murhling to add lines from the book in rehearsals, then the two would discuss his choices.
Vidal referred to the show as the students’ and faculty’s “creature” in the playbill.
In Act 1, few words are spoken. The story is told through letters from the ambitious Captain Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. Walton and his crew find Frankenstein traveling by dogsled, cold and near death. As Frankenstein begins to recover, he tells Walton the story of his life.
Murhling said because the show is a recalling of Frankenstein’s memories, the details don’t always have to be clear.
“When you think about your life, there are some things that are crystal clear and some things don’t have as much detail,” he said. “For that reason, we had the luxury of glossing over tiny details.”
Murhling said the vague details of show allow the audience to meet the actors halfway.
“The audience has to fill in the pieces,” he said.
Actors used movement to create props and scenery. Through actions and sound, actors mimicked the tide of water as it pushes a woman under and she started to drown. Although the word “water” is never spoken, the audience understood.
“It leaves a lot open for interpretation,” Zach Whelchel, a sophomore pre-business major, said. “But it gets the main point across.”
In one scene, the lights dimmed and the faint sound of a thunderstorm could be heard. Sailors, bundled in layers of jackets, furry gloves and knitted scarves swayed with the current and shivered to keep warm. They ducked below ropes and tugged on sails in unison.
However, there was no ship on stage.
Twelve ensemble characters dressed in black moved the story along through their facial expressions and body movement. When the ensemble did speak, they talked over each other, overlapping quotes and conversations in multiple languages like English, Latin and German.
Music also guided the audience, playing quick, light and airy tunes in the school scene and smooth, dark and foreboding tunes in death scenes. Because there is little dialogue, the audience needs to rely more on the music and the ensemble’s singing to interpret emotion.
“The music is like another character on stage,” Murhling said.
The audience sits on the left and the right of the stage, directly facing each other. The actors, who are not on an elevated stage, are very close to audience members — at times, less than a foot away.
“I made a lot of eye contact with the actors,” said Sarah Kniesly, a sophomore physical education and health major in the audience. “It’s a different experience being so close to them.”
“Frankenstein” runs 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday in Strother Theatre. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for the general public.
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