Frankenstein – a comic tale of magic and adventure…
Mary Shelley’s classic tale of creation and alienation is reworked in Bash Street’s inimitable style. Dr Frankenstein, a travelling showman, attempts to create a new exhibit for his ‘Freak Show’.
With the help of his unsavoury assistants, Frankenstein gathers his ‘raw materials’, builds a life-giving machine (cue thunderbolts from the heavens) and succeeds in his misguided mission. Be amazed and amused as this comic-horror tale reaches its madcap conclusion and the deluded doctor confronts his ‘Creature’ in a gripping, whirlwind finale.
After the departure in style of Cliffhanger! (2001 onwards) our next outdoor show, Frankenstein was truly something completely different. It was an absurd mixture of black humour and Gothic silliness but with a poignant ending that contrasted sharply with the style of the rest of the show.
We took our inspiration not from Mary Shelly’s original novel, but from the classic Boris Karloff film of 1931. It is in this film that ‘the Creature’ is chased into a windmill that is then set on fire. Wouldn’t it be good, we thought, to have a windmill that was strong enough to lift us off the ground on its sails – Buster Keaton never did THIS stunt!
True to our troubadour style, our Dr Frankenstein was a travelling showman who wanted to exhibit his ‘creation’ in his freak show. His show also included two magical illusions, the Zig-Zag Lady (a fantastic illusion made famous in the 1950s) and also a sword box, expertly made by Russell, and later to be used again in The Lion Tamer and The Strongman.
We commissioned Graham Jobbins, a Cornish artist and sculptor, to make the windmill – and what an amazing job he did. He built the windmill sails that were turned by a robust electric motor sitting on 4m high platform supported by scaffold bars, under which we constructed a raised stage. The set was a thing of beauty, but took several hours to construct and dismantle (and was also extremely heavy!) which was a factor in our decision to tour for just two seasons.
Once again, David Twomlow was our devising director and then Mikey Martins added ideas for the second year. The fantastic music and songs were written by Jim McCormack and performed in 2004 by jazz musician James Oecken and the following year by Matthew Robins – his second stint with our company and featured in the archive video. Matthew and his friend Tim Spooner also both helped with design and prop making. Unnoticed by audiences (except by the most eagle-eyed) Matthew and Tim made sure that the books in Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory were all to do with sewing, needlework and embroidery!
Redruth artist Helen Tiley did a beautiful job painting the set and with costume design, and we commissioned a Camborne artist (whose name I cannot trace – my apologies) to make a clever, quick-fitting half-mask for ‘the Creature’.
Tour 2004
Paignton Children’s Festival
Glasgow Mayfest
X-trax, Manchester
North Devon Festival
Penlee Park, Cornwall
Glastonbury Festival
Hat Fair, Winchester
Donegal Festival, Co. Donegal
Haverhill Festival
Bracknell Festival
Bromsgrove Festival
Cardiff Bay
Swansea Festival
Tour 2005
National Theatre, London
Henley-on-Thames Festival
Trevithick Day, Cornwall
Streets of Brighton
North Devon Festival
Polperro Festival, Cornwall
Newhampton Arts Festival, Wolverhampton
Cardiff Bay Festival
Ballymena Festival, Co. Antrim
Les Jeudis du Port, Brest, France
Gloucester Town Festival
Penlee Park, Penzance, Cornwall
Shoreditch Festival
Paignton Children’s Festival
Rhyl Town Festival
Coldingham Gala, Scotland
Production Information
Year of creation 2004
Toured 2004 – 2005
Funded by Arts Council England
Artistic Directors Simon Pullum and JoJo Pickering
Directed by David Twomlow and Mikey Martins
Music composed by Jim McCormack
Designer Helen Tiley
Windmill Designer Graham Jobbins
Props Matthew Robins, Tim Spooner and David Twomlow
Performers
Simon Pullum
JoJo Pickering
Russell Hurd
Live Music Played by
2004 – James Oecken
2005 – Matthew Robins