Performance based on the most famous horror story of all time
UNM’s Department of Theatre and Dance continues its 2008-09 Main Stage Season with “Frankenstein,” by R.N. Sandberg, directed by Assistant Professor Kristen Loree. “Frankenstein” continues with shows Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 9-11 at 7:30 p.m., in Rodey Theatre.
Based on the most famous horror story of all time, “Frankenstein” is a gothic tale set in the icy polar regions where scientist Victor Frankenstein has chased the creature he brought to life. In an intensely dramatic examination of the relationship between creation and creator, an ensemble of UNM’s finest actors reveal Frankenstein’s memories of his unnatural offspring and a surreal path towards death and destruction.
Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” was written during the summer of 1816 when Mary, Percy Blythe Shelley, and Lord Byron, after spending rainy afternoons reading German ghost stories, challenged each other to write their own. Fair weather returned and Mary Shelly’s story was the only one completed. Her novel is considered by many to be the first science fiction story and has had many famous versions on film. Those familiar with this novel will find the drama by Sandberg is truer to its literary counterpart than the many film adaptations of the story.
Loree was drawn to “Frankenstein” because she loved the story. “I was fascinated with what it means to be a creature forgotten, with what it is to be the father who abandons a child,” she said. UNM’s production uses a surrealistic interpretation in both direction and design concept – according to Loree, “imagine Mary Shelley meets Salvador Dali.”
With costume design by Dorothy Baca, scenic design by David Horowitz, lighting design by Brian McNamarra, and sound design and original music by Tom Monahan, Loree and the cast are exploring Frankenstein’s landscape of memory and the consequences of his monstrous attempt to play god. The cast includes Theodore Jackson as Victor Frankenstein, Starnes Reveley as the Creature, and Amanda Machon as Elizabeth.
Ticket prices are $15 general admission, $10 faculty and seniors, $8 staff and students. Tickets are available at the UNM Ticket Offices located at the UNM Bookstore or University Arena (The Pit). Tickets may also be purchased online at UNM Tickets, or by calling (505) 925-5858.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu