I AM
FRANKENSTEIN
Adaptation drama
90 minutes, 14 characters
This 90-minute adaptation also draws inspiration from "Paradise Lost,” a major influence on the novel. A minimum of 10 actors play 14 principal roles, including the chorus of flexible size.
Extra Info
First full production on Halloween 2019 at Maumelle High School in Maumelle, Ark.
The first public reading was held Aug. 3, 2019 at Biloxi Little Theatre in Biloxi, Miss.
Workshop at Bubble and Squeak Theatre Collective in London, England, in June 2019.
Private reading at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in April 2019.
Now published by Stage Partners, I AM FRANKENSTEIN unearths two creatures who were tortured and abandoned by their makers: Victor’s famous monster, and the teenage writer Mary Shelley herself. A highly theatrical retelling of Shelley's classic, the play adds two principal characters: a haunting chorus known as The Blackbirds, and the troubled Mary Shelley, the story’s creative force. Victor, a promising student obsessed with alchemy, reanimates human life in the basement laboratory of a vacationing professor, only to abandon his creature and allow it to slowly exact revenge.
What they are saying:
Bob Birdsong, director and theater teacher, Maumelle High School, Maumelle, Ark.
... filled with the kind of pathos (our actors) had never portrayed onstage ... but the growth in their skill level and even in their daily communication with each other was palpable ... I whole-heartedly recommend this property for any theatre Company ... The end is jaw-droppingly stunning.
Emma Pallett, U.K. actress
I AM FRANKENSTEIN is an imaginative reinvention of the original novel by Shelley with exciting installments of the importance of her authorship exposing the way conflict between creations makes monsters ... (The) inclusion of an ensemble gives the play a wonderfully haunting element!
Eric Bailey, Instructor of English, Henderson State University
The child of death and scandal stalks his creator, demanding validation. From across the ages, Mary Shelley’s “hideous progeny” comes to life again ... demanding validation this time for both creature and creator. John Haman masterfully blends nightmare with inspiration in this tale of creation gone horribly wrong ...
