Photo: Paul Metreyeon
A colorful but unsubstantial adaptation of “Frankenstein” that ultimately feels derivative both of the novel/Karloff film and the Hypocrites’ previous work. In a Newcity interview earlier this fall, Sean Graney expressed his intention to piece the show together out of various “dead material” from previous adaptations, but in this skeletal version, much of the story is lost and the show itself is what feels dead. With bloody dolls hanging from the ceiling, creepy suicides in wedding dresses, and the Hypocrites’ aggressive promenade style, the show is visually appealing (though you have to work to see the cast much of the time—the MCA space feels cramped, and the actors moved around out of my view more than half the time no matter how hard I tried to keep up). Acting is energetic but often inconsistent and even uncontrolled, and the schizophrenic mood—horror and screaming with tacked-on modern one-liners like a running joke about canned cheese—keep the show from building up real dramatic momentum. The bottom line is that while their treatment of “Oedipus” breathed new life into the play last spring, the Hypocrites and Graney make a mistake in believing that they need to make “Frankenstein” colorful, edgy, and modern to make it interesting. I found myself more often than not simply watching the black-and-white Karloff film, projected behind the stage, and finding it more moving than the anxious, histrionic postmodernism in front. (Monica Westin)
At the MCA, 220 East Chicago, (312)397-4010. Through November 1.
One Response to “Review: Frankenstein/The Hypocrites”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
[...] How wise then, in the Hypocrites’ season-opening stage version of “Frankenstein” that opened last Friday and is playing through this Halloween weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art, that adapter and director Sean Graney chooses to embrace the Karloff cinematic portrayal rather than futilely attempt to ignore it. Most adaptations have to, not only because the stage still cannot replicate what could be done on film even back in 1931, but Universal Studios still jealously holds the copyright to every aspect of the film, especially Jack P. Pierce’s makeup. How clever then to simply show the film while the Hypocrites play out their adaptation; apart from the spoken cautionary prologue, Dr. Frankenstein’s pondering of the mysteries of life and death immediately before the Monster’s initial appearance, and grunts from the Monster and repeated screams from one of its would-be victims, the complete film unspools silently. Yet for all of the myriads of times that most of us have seen it over the years, most of the audience—sometimes even performers included—could not take their eyes off of it, particularly when Karloff was on screen.(See the review in Stage.) [...]