A theatrical performance of the novel, which was filmed by NTL.
As already recommended in a previous post (Tiny Tip #21), the National Theatre Live is screening some recoded performances for free on YouTube. Since the month of April has been a great success with four different screenings, two more have been added to the schedule for May.
I have not seen Antony & Cleopatra yet (but will definitely do so when it comes out), but I can already wholeheartedly recommend this production of Frankenstein. I watched it some years ago at the cinema, when it was broadcast as a normal NTL screening.
The novel by Mary Shelley, on which this play is based, has long been considered a classic of literature. Even now, more than 200 years after its original publication in 1818, it remains powerful and relevant. While many only know of the creature or "monster", there is an important other character to it, namely its creator, a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein. The novel discusses issues of morality, responsibility and revenge, and creates such haunting images that it is very fitting for an adaptation on stage.
Director Danny Boyle, who is known for his films such as The Beach and Slumdog Millionaire, has created a memorable theatre production in London in 2011. Besides getting two of the greatest English actors in a fitting age, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, to play the two protagonists, he has made the unusual choice of letting both actors learn and play both roles in alternation. As has been pointed our by critics, one of the version is slightly better as both excel more in one of the roles, but overall both are interesting and worth watching.
For more info on the production see the page of NTL.
(Trailer for the screening here.)
Links to watch it (until Friday May 8th, 7pm UK time):
Version 1 (Cumberbatch as creature) - recommended version
Version 2 (Miller as creature) - alternative version
(Images: NTL)