Too bad, I am at the Savoy next week (3rd). I hope you two had a lot of fun (I am sure, you had  ).

I saw BC as the creature last night.  Ladies I don't even know if I have the words.

Above and beyond the acting I loved the production design, the lighting and musical effects.  Danny Boyle put together a fine visual treat.

The performances were all around solid but of course our leads were the shining stars.  JLM was inense and kinda scary but it was almost impossible for him to not be outshown by The Creature.

As written, it is really The Creature's show.  And as performed by Benedict, The Creature is mezmeriazing.   Here BC truly acts with his whole body.  Every muscle twitch, every sound he makes draw you into the creature's world.  You feel his joy at discovering the world, his pain when the world greets him with hate and fear, and his loneliness as he realizes he is the only one of his kind.  It had to be incredibly exhasting to play and I admire BC even more for his stamina.

The story of Frankenstein ask so many hard questions.
What makes us human?
How do you define love?
Just because science gives us the ability to do something does that mean we should?
Why is our first reaction to difference so often hate?
What obligations do we owe our creations?

This production doesn't answer any of them but it gives you lot to think about.

Side note: I was pleased and surpirsed at all the little moments of humor.
 

tonnaree wrote:

I saw BC as the creature last night.  Ladies I don't even know if I have the words.
 

 
Awesome.  Wonderful, wasn't it?   
I know… I was a bit surprisedly 'whoah' at seeing what I was in for with the very first glimpses of that amazing, circular set, and BC's creature waking up!  Talk about intensely artistic!
I wish I could have seen the other version, too!

I think we all wish we could've seen it live BB, but at least we got to see it.  I'm going to see the one with JLM as the creature soon.

2 more comments.

Knowledge is knowing that the monster is not Frankenstein.
Wisdom is knowing that Frankenstein is the monster.

and

I swear to god I did not stare excessively at Benedict in that loin cloth!

I like your "knowledge and wisdom" observation, Tonaree - very astute! 

I would rather have no loincloth at all - not for prurient reasons, but just because it seems more natural.   I can understand that maybe they didn't want to commit the naked version to film, but it seems a shame that appropriate nudity should be such an issue. 

I believe that they did play the part naked (with make-up) on the stage, so they weren't opposed to nudity itself, only to committing it to film (and no doubt, to freeze frame and capture, etc) - I just think it's a shame that we have that sort of society, where nudity is usually sexual and/or demeaning - that the actors should have to feel like that.  I've seen some really quite unpleasant and personal comments about actors' nude scenes, so I can understand their point of view -  I just wish it wasn't that way!

Last edited by Liberty (October 28, 2014 7:59 pm)

Wow.  I saw BC as the Creature last night and I'll say it again: Wow.  When I saw the film the first time with BC as Viktor, I thought he was good but the role didn't seem a stretch to play; it reminded me too much of Sherlock.  But as the Creature, BC was superb.  I can't imagine how physically exhausting it must have been to perform that every other day for I don't know how long.  But BC was so believable in the role and what happened to the Creature was heartbreaking.  The transformation from his birth to the end of the film was just so well done.  I wish I'd been so talented at age 18--I really must read the novel sometime.  I'd say words fail me but obviously, they aren't.  I'll just end here with: That.was.amazing.

Last edited by Sherli Bakerst (November 1, 2014 12:44 am)

MartaSt  I also fell in love with Jonny as Creature!    So incredibly soulful and physical.    Then I saw Benedict
as Creature,  so otherworldly and heart-wrenching!   I hope you get to see both versions.    What a
treat for us that they filmed these performances.

I saw Creaturebatch on Thursday night, this being my first time seeing Frankenstein and I was blown away. Benedict's acting was surreal, and I struggle to find words to describe my feelings throughout the production.

I've booked tickets to see Benedict as Victor next, so it'll be interesting to compare the performances of both BC and JLM.

Tonight I will see the version with Benedict as Victor and Jonny as Creature. I saw the other version two times in the last two weeks. I only wanted to see each version once but after the first time I saw it I was so owerwhelmed that I had to watch it again. Benedict did such a great performance of the Creature that I was often close to tears. Though I didn't understand everything (nearly 80% I think), it thrilled me till the end. After the first view I discovered that the script of Nick Deary was also available as book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frankenstein-based-novel-Mary-Shelley/dp/0571277217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415621199&sr=8-1&keywords=frankenstein+nick+dear. It was very helpful for me as non-native speaker to read the text again and could prepare for the second view.

I also loved the stage, music and light - it was so perfect and well-conceived. I have to agree that the actor of the father of Victor was not only unconvincing but in my point of view ubsolutely weak. At the first time I didn't notice it that much because I was so blown away by Benedict's and Jonny's performances but after the second view it jumped out at me. What a shame! But fortunatley, Benedict and Jonny were so suberb that they overshawdowed that weak performance. I'm really exciting for tonight's version. Is someone else going to the Savoy Theater in Hamburg tonight?