This play is a very close and faithful re-telling of the original by
Mary Shelley written because all the current Frankenstein
adaptations were found to be either 'Grease in Transylvania' style
or classic AmDram (i.e. five people talking in a study).
Set in Geneva in 1917. Six children, aged between 18 and 9, are on
holiday and have discovered that they are staying in the chateau
that Doctor Frankenstein lived in over 100 years before.
The action of the play takes place in the attic, over three days in
July. Bad weather has forced the children indoors, and so they
decide to explore the attic. Entering via a trapdoor they discover a
dusty old trunk with the initials W.F. which they realise are the
initials of William Frankenstein, the Doctor's younger brother.
Inside the trunk they find a locket, a shawl, some dolls and other
similar items. Each object tells part of the dark story that took
place 100 years before.
The Doctor, the grave robbers, the Monster and the Laboratory, are
all intermingled with the discovery of a crashed Airman from the war
raging in Europe. Did he really walk to Switzerland from the front
line? Does he know more about the Chateau than he lets on?
The play unfolds using flashbacks between 1917 and 1817 with the
holidaying children assuming the roles in both the present and the
past.
Whilst 'Chateau Frankenstein' does have the famous electrical storm
scene in the Laboratory, it is not the climax of the play and is
played as just part of the action. The relationship between the
various related characters is the more important content of this
intriguing tale.
You can buy the script for
Chateau Frankenstein from
http://www.playsandmusicals.co.uk/
