Dr Frankenstein revamped for Newcastle

BASED on one of the greatest novels in the English language, Dr Frankenstein, a new adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic, opens at Newcastle's Northern Stage next year for a run of February 3 to March 11 before touring.

Following the story of a visionary young woman born into a world not ready for her, Dr Victoria Frankenstein’s scientific experiments lead her to the very brink of human knowledge in Grayscale's artistic director Selma Dimitrijevic’s psychologically disturbing version of Mary Shelley’s novel, directed by Northern Stage artistic director, Lorne Campbell.

The play is part of Queens of the North at Northern Stage – a season of great female stories and great female storytellers. “The novel was written by a woman and I’ve always read it as being about women – most likely influenced by Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, herself a writer and a hugely influential early feminist thinker. It’s about responsibility, but

from a female perspective so it seemed fitting that our Dr Frankenstein was a woman," says Campbell.

The production will be designed by Tom Piper MBE, who worked with former Northern Stage artistic director Erica Whyman OBE on A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and won critical acclaim for his Poppies: Weeping Window installation with artist Paul Cummins at the Tower of London in 2014.

The cast are Polly Frame (The Odyssey, English Touring Theatre) who will play Dr Victoria Frankenstein, Ed Gaughan (The Birthday Party, Royal Exchange) as the Creature, Scott Turnbull (Gods Are Fallen And All Safety Gone, Greyscale) as Henry Clerval, Victoria Elliott (Get Carter, Northern Stage) as Elizabeth Frankenstein, Donald McBride (Pitmen Painters, Live Theatre) as Victoria’s father, Libby Davison (The Bill, ITV) as Mary, and Rachel Denning (The Vote, Donmar Warehouse) as Justine Moritz.

The same ensemble are making Hedda Gabler: This is Not a Love Story simultaneously.

Polly Frame says, “I’m really looking forward to exploring how two powerful women operate in a world that is not yet ready for them. Mounting these two plays side by side will be a real challenge but so exciting and I’m hoping each will give insight into the other in surprising ways.”

As well as a new adaptation of Hedda Gabler (Feb 16 to Mar 8) written and directed by Selma Dimitrijevic, the Queens of the North season includes Leaving (Feb 23 to Mar 4) – a new play from Curious Monkey about young people leaving the care system, directed by Amy Golding; four women from across the centuries live, breathe, and play football in Offside (Apr 27 to 29) from Futures Theatre Company; Holly Gallagher’s one woman show about Cosplay and growing up on the internet – Before (the Line is Lost) (Jan 26); Present to Past: Reclaiming Work by Women (Feb 22 & 25); and Transit by Zendeh (Jan 27 & 28) – Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh’s reflection on relationships and reaching over divides.

Box Office: northernstage.co.uk or 0191-230-5151.