A Review of Four of Swords’ Frankenstein at Great Fulford Estate by Thomas Markham, one of exetreme’s young volunteers

Do you want to know something interesting? I have never really looked at Frankenstein as being a horror story. It has horror elements for sure but I would instead consider it something else: a tragedy. My opinion of Frankenstein being just this has only been enhanced after witnessing this performance of Mary Shelly’s famous novel at Great Fulford Estate.

The most notable thing about this play is that different scenes take place in different rooms of the house. As a result, this is a unique experience to say the least. While there are some problems with everyone moving from one room to the other, the use of music, strobe lighting and the great props/scenery created for each scene really help bring each scene to life, particularly the laboratory, the Blind Man’s house and the last scene. All the actors give great performances but the two who stand out the most are Emerson Pike as Victor Frankenstein and Phillip Kingslan John as the Creature. The range of emotions they display gets across the complexity of their characters and how tragic the story and their characters truly are.

Overall, this was a fantastic rendition of a fantastic story but, word of warning, this is not for the faint of heart.

Rating: 5/5 Stars