Frankenstein comes alive at Irvine Valley College’s Performing Arts Center
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Irvine Valley College’s Performing Arts Center last Thursday night (Photographer/Hannah Tavares).
The play “Frankenstein” was performed at Irvine Valley College in the Performing Arts Center Oct. 30- 31, Nov. 1- 2, and Nov. 5-9 and was a new twist to the original Frankenstein story. Bob Walton adapted the story for IVC’s performance from the original book by Mary Shelley.
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, played by Charles Denton, gave an outstanding performance. In spite of his many character flaws, his emotions were portrayed beautifully as he lived out his life’s journey.
The Frankenstein creature was played by Usman Khan, and his performance was unforgettable. Khan portrayed the creature’s feelings of abandonment by his creator, and the way he learned to talk pulled the audience into the story. The complexity of this character was played so well that it was as if Khan became the creature himself.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the Irvine Valley College’s Performing Arts Center last Thursday night (photograph/Hannah Tavares).
Ironically, the most interesting characters on stage had no lines. However, their presence was one of the most important parts of the storyline. These characters were the “shadow creatures” that were played by Nadia Sine and Lisa Gore. These creatures kept near the shadows of the characters, and were invisible to everyone but the audience. The characters seemed to show the darkness in each character.
This version of Frankenstein was absolutely amazing. The Frankenstein monster showed wrath to his creator from the lessons he learned in the Bible, given to him by a blind man. He blamed his creator for being the cause of his sorrows. In the end, he found a name for himself, and before the creature could tell Dr. Frankenstein this name he chose for himself, Dr. Frankenstein killed the creature.
The storyline was easy to follow and easy to get drawn in to.
Although this play is a new version of a story that has been told time and time again, it was one of the most enjoyable college plays I have been to in some time.
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