1)       In the scene where The Creature (Jonny Lee Miller) is confronted by Victor

Frankenstein (Benedict Cumberbatch) over the death of William (Haydon Downing), director
Danny Boyle intentionally utilizes the dramatic element of space to establish the relationship
between the two central characters. How is Boyle’s use of space effective in this scene and
what is he trying to tell the audience?

Boyle’s use of space in this scene demonstrates the power struggle between The Creature and
Frankenstein, and the fluid dynamics of their relationship. Throughout the scene, the two
characters exchange an extended dialogue. Frankenstein and The Creature both adjust their
height by kneeling or adjusting their posture to stand over the other character. This
demonstrates the power imbalance between the two characters, as through several points in
the scene, each character asks something of the other. The creature grovels to Frankenstein
when he asks for a wife, demonstrating the power that Frankenstein has in the situation,
whereas Frankenstein is seen looking up to The Creature as he explains how he has been
treated, and how he sympathises with Satan because of their shared experiences. This infers
that The Creature is in a position where he can teach Frankenstein about his experiences. This
presents a different perspective for the audience to view the play, as the use of space and
visual stimuli to show the power struggle between the two characters highlights the intricate
aspects of their relationship in a way that captures the essence of the dialogue for the
audience to understand.

2)      Boyle intends to demonstrate that the characters of Elizabeth (Naomie Harris) and
Victor are incompatible marital partners through the use of the dramatic element contrast.
Describe the contrast of their clothing and their voices that the actors use in the wedding
night scene to show Boyle’s intended effect.

Boyle uses contrast in this scene through the production area of costume, as well as the actors
emphasising this through their use of the expressive skill voice. The clear contrast in the way
that Elizabeth is dressed in a nightgown, compared to Frankenstein’s fully formal outfit
shows the differences in the characters and how they cannot function together as a pair.
Elizabeth’s outfit displays her desire to rest, and take the time to spend time with her new
husband, whereas Frankenstein’s costume displays his dedication to his work, and how he is
unwilling to rest until he is in control of his situation with The Creature. The ways that the
actors use voice also gives the audience a glimpse of the relationship between these two
characters. Cumberbatch speaks with a finality to every sentence, to show how his character
is stressed about the situation, whereas Harris speaks more softly, almost questioning the
sanity of Cumberbatch’s character. These differences are subtle, however they clue the
audience into how the characters interact, and how their stubbornness in changing their
dialogue will translate into the character’s relationships with each other. This indirectly
informs the audience of the fact that these two characters are severely incompatible.

3)      Johnny Lee Miller’s Creature “evolves” through the duration of the play physically,
mentally and sophistically. Using the expressive skills of voice, movement and gesture and
the use of the production area of costume, describe how the Creature changes from the first
time the audience sees him and the last scene he is in. (Use specific examples!)
Miller shows great contrast through his ever-evolving performance as The Creature, using his
expressive skills, aided by his costume. In the first scene of the performance, Miller utilizes
each of the expressive skills of voice, movement, gesture and facial expression to ‘birth’ The
Creature. He displays a use of voice that features guttural noises and nonsensical gibberish
that demonstrates the lack of coherency the newly born Creature would have. His gestures
and movements are jagged and unnatural, struggling to ‘use’ his body in a functional way. It
is Miller’s use and combination of these expressive skills that displays the newly born nature
of The Creature, and how it is learning to use its body. This is aided by the minimalistic
costume- a piece of cloth that covers the waist of the creature, and allows the rest of his body
to be seen by the audience. The evolution of the character is evident throughout the
performance, however it concludes in the final scene, where Miller once again utilizes each
of these expressive skills to display the character’s development. Miller stutters and over
pronounces his dialogue to demonstrate The Creature’s contorted nature, however speaks in
full, clearly constructed sentences, and displays an understanding and knowledge of what he
is saying that shows how The Creature is educated. His gestures are somewhat direct; Miller
points at Frankenstein, however his arm and fingers twitch and contort to show The
Creature’s instability. His movements are much more sophisticated, walking with purpose,
and whilst Miller maintains the twitching of his feet seen throughout the entirety of the
performance, at the end of the scene, where The Creature finally comes to terms with death,
his movements become much less sporadic, and he can walk like a normal person. As well as
this, his costume is a shirt, cloak and pants, which cover his whole body apart from his face,
hands and feet. This all combines to show the development of The Creature to become much
more human and sane, and though Miller maintains some of the features that make the
character unique, such as the twitching and unnatural speech, at the end of the scene Miller
brings closure to the character by portraying a much saner and educated version of The
Creature from the beginning. This contrast has a profound effect on the audience, as the
character development of The Creature is an essential aspect of the story, so Miller’s
performance and the use of this production area allow to demonstrate this in a different light.

4)      In the train scene, the actors use the expressive skill of voice and the production areas
of lighting, prop and sound design to represent the train itself. Director Danny Boyle
instructs that the train is meant to symbolize “religion”. In your own words, describe how the
train can be interpreted to be symbolic of the concept of religion.

Boyle uses a multitude of production areas in the second scene of the play to portray religion
as an intrusive force. The performance is constructed to mirror the journey of life, with the
birth of The Creature beginning the play, and then following his development, until the
conclusion of him joining Frankenstein to go into the light at the end of the play, a metaphor
for death. Following this idea, the second scene with the train is The Creature’s baptism. The
scene begins with the train entering the stage, with dramatic lighting and steam. The workers
on the train all hold megaphones as a prop, which they all begin to shout into. These
megaphones are a metaphor for the way that religion is preached to followers. The train backs
into the middle of the stage, and then explodes into an extravagant light show with sparks
flying out from underneath the train. This intense display of lighting as a production area
shows the nature of religion’s abrasiveness and intensity. The mechanical, steampunk
sounding music played at a high volume, which is matched using the ensemble’s voice- loud
and shouting. This all combines to display the intrusive and loud nature of religion. The
audience sees the effect that the train, and the citizens have on The Creature, and can connect
that through following the logic of the play detailing the story of The Creature’s life, this
scene, where the citizens ‘cleanse’ the creature through their extreme methods, that this scene
is not only a metaphor for, but also a commentary on modern religious methods.

5)      In the scene where Victor is creating a partner for the Creature, the Creature emerges
from the audience and asks rhetorical questions to itself about existence and acceptance. How
is this scene meant to establish the performance skill of actor/audience relationship?

Miller delivers the lines in a way that creates a bond between the actor and the audience, thus
strengthening the actor/audience relationship. Miller emerges from within the audience and
recites lines (“Meat for the dogs”, “Stinks of death”) to the audience that question
Frankenstein’s morals, and force the audience to think about the situation he is in. These
asides allow the audience to understand what The Creature is thinking, and changes the pace
of the dialogue. It is assumed that Frankenstein, though present in the scene, cannot hear this
dialogue, as Miller delivers it directly to the audience. This allows the audience to sympathise
with The Creature, and build a bond between the actor and the audience that did not exist
beforehand, as now the audience has this shared moment with the actor to connect with. As
well as this, Frankenstein’s emergence from the audience allows the audience to assume that
The Creature sees this section of the performance as a part of the audience, allowing the
audience to take a more literal view of the events that proceed.

6)      The blind man, De Lacey (Karl Johnson), uses the performance skill of focus in all his
scenes. Why is it imperative for the actor to retain his focus for the audience to believe his
role in the play?

Johnson demonstrates an intense focus and dedication to his performance to make his
character believable. Johnson does this by manipulating his expressive skills to consistently
portray a blind character, using slow and misdirected movements to display his lack of
special awareness, as well as a vague facial expression to show that he cannot react to visual
stimuli as a regular human would. Focus must be maintained throughout this to consistently
portray this role, as a drop in focus would result in inconsistencies that would lead to the
audience not believing the actor’s performance. The effect that this extended focus has on the
audience is a believable due to the intense focus and dedication that Johnson possesses as he
portrays a blind person, where he can convincingly and consistently maintain his
performance.

7)      Compare the performance skills of timing and energy and the production areas

of lighting and set pieces between The Creature’s “rebirth” at the beginning of the play and
his dream sequence of a The Female Creature (Andreea Padurario) at the De Lacey’s farm.
Why does Danny Boyle present these two creature introductions so differently?

There are several differences between these two scenes that are recognised using performance
skills and production areas. The first scene includes minimal set- a singular ‘womb’ that the
creature emerges from. The lighting is bright, warm and erratic, with the lights above the
stage flashing in a cascading fashion. This is in direct contrast to the cool, white and blue
lighting that reflects on a select part of the stage, and follows the two characters throughout
the scene, as well as the set, which is the De Lacey’s house and farm. The contrast between
these two scenes can be noticed in the way that the first scene is much more frantic, with
more space on the stage to be utilized and bright, warm lighting that mirrors the sporadic
nature of the creature’s first birth. The fleshed out set in the dream sequence alludes to a more
civilized life, as well as the cooler lighting reflecting a more calm and peaceful atmosphere.
The performance skills of timing and energy are also utilized in this scene by the actors. In
the first scene, Miller has incredibly high energy, which he uses to create a frantic
performance that matches the atmosphere created by the lighting and set. His timing is
unexpected, creating unnatural movements that do not follow any sense of natural flow. This
contrasts the lower energy provided by Miller and Parurario in the dream sequence, which
allows them to demonstrate more fluid movements that match the calmer atmosphere. The
timing is much more fluid and natural, as the two actors dance around the stage and share a
moment of bonding. These differences in the scenes highlight the growth and character
development that The Creature undergoes throughout these first scenes, and creates a sense of
consistent mood that the audience can experience throughout the scene as they get to see The
Creature discover both life and love.

8)      Danny Boyle says that he wanted the production to be “unsettling rather than horrific.”
Explain how the production area of sound design enables this.

Danny Boyle uses sound design to create an unsettling atmosphere throughout the
performance. In many scenes, there will be an absence of any sound outside of the dialogue
of the characters. Many of the quieter scenes will include background noise to aid the
atmosphere of the scene, however, which generally creates an unsettling feel. An example of
this is the opening scene, where synths slowly crescendo to create a noise that consumes the
audience, and then suddenly stops to leave them unsure of what to expect. From here, cave-
like sounds such as drips and a vague echo create the image of a widely spacious setting with
an eerie atmosphere. This attempts to give the audience a sense of nervousness, as the
unsettling atmosphere created by the vast staging and eerie sound design gives the audience
the first impression of the performance that sets the audience’s expectations for the rest of the
play.