On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s celebrated novel, the Geneva English Drama Society will present Frankenstein. This production returns the story to its original Geneva roots and the terrifying confrontation between a man obsessed with his own quest for knowledge, and his creation, who did not ask to be created.
This story brings us back to the dark shores of Lac Léman in the summer of 1818, a Europe in the aftermath of revolution and bloody conflict, a Europe in transition between superstition and science, and the increasingly blurring boundaries between the mind and the heart. Shelley’s collection of unforgettable characters guide us down an unrelenting path to the dark conflict at the core of modern society. The primal struggle between an obsessive man and the object of his obsession is even more horrifyingly recognisable today. This stark production will cut to the heart of this story of life, death and desperate longing.
Frankenstein is the first work of science fiction, the first work of gothic horror, and the greatest romantic novel of the era. In fact, when published for the first time 200 hundred years ago by the 18-year-old Mary Shelley, it was so radical and new, its seismic waves of the imagination shook her contemporary society, and its aftershocks are still felt resoundingly today.
Performances – Tues 2nd October – Sat 6th October at the Théâtre de l’Espérance, 8, rue de la Chapelle, 1207 Genève.
Tues – Fri 20:00 – Sat 19:00
based on the novel by Mary Shelley
Directed by Christopher Bailey
I’m looking forward to a night out in Geneva to see this classic actually set along the shores of Lac Léman. On the opening night, thoughts go out to the cast, and three cheers for theatre in English in this region!