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The Royal Ballet: Frankenstein, March 2019


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1 hour ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

They're literally giving tickets away - I won a Royal Ballet competition and they gave me 2 central front row amphitheatre seats for Friday's performance! Very excited, but would not have paid £70 each for them.....

 

What was the question, your favourite colour? 🤔🙂

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6 hours ago, ElleC said:

Well, I loved this ballet last time around, and love it even more this time.

 

Very pleased to see your post ElleC and that you find Frankenstein even more impressive this time round.  I don’t get to see Frankenstein until later but am very much looking forward to the 23 March matinee/evening performances.  

 

I’ve been reading the discussion with interest and am still thinking about Nogoat’s very informative post much earlier, setting out the tweaks Liam Scarlett has introduced and the defence made of the very brief encounter between Frankenstein and the Creature at the end of Act 1 (page 4 above and apologies for not quoting properly).  

 

Nogoat writes: “... it’s very clear in the book that despite the sheer intellectual achievement of his obsessive pursuit of the secret of life through the reanimation of dead tissue, Victor’s response is not elation but instant repulsion – “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room…”

 

The justification certainly is in the novel with Frankenstein’s minimal description of his revulsion and how he fled the room.  But that is written from Frankenstien’s perspective and there’s no reference to the Creature and his response to ‘creation’.  I don’t know the novel well enough but I thought the Creature years afterwards reflected on his creation/rejection when he spoke to Frankenstein so does the reanimation scene need to be solely from Frankenstein’s pretty perfunctory description?  In the Ballet I think we see the Creature looking to his creator for recognition and only finding rejection.  I appreciate it’s difficult to imagine the Creature having awareness/insight immediately on reanimation but could a case be made to draw on both Frankenstein’s and the Creature’s perspectives?  In the Ballet it is so rushed and to me asks for a little more - nothing too elaborate but more time for audiences to appreciate the import of what’s happening.  I’ll see what I think after my London trip and a couple of performances.

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Yes I too thought the whole creation scene far too rushed. it should be the pivotal moment of the ballet; the time when creator and creature come face to face. Their reaction to each other should be the most important part of the ballet and sets the scene for the tragedy that follows. The revulsion of Frankenstein should be matched by the wonder of the creature experiencing life for the first time, his gratitude to Frankenstein for giving him life and gradual devastation when he realises the effect he has on his creator; the person he is looking towards for love and affection. My take on the creature is he is not intrinsically bad; it is just the effect his appearance has on everyone he meets. he wants nothing more than love and affection and it's only after he is repulsed and rejected by everyone, and Frankenstein refuses to create a mate for him that he turns to anger and violence. There should at least be a pas de deux after creation that attempts to convey at least some of this. It could be the most moving part of the ballet. As a ballet I don't dislike it; I even quite like it but feel frustrated every time I see it for this lack of clarity. The ballet should be about love but the love the creature is trying to find in those around him not the love between Frankenstein and Elizabeth which I don't even remember from when I read the book (admittedly nearly 40 years ago). I've never seen it live and didn't plan to do so this time but I booked the Floral hall rehearsals this Friday and thought I might stop over and see an evening performance so I'll see what I think then.

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Well, I don't know how they did it but we had a very well filled theatre this evening and one that cheered enthusiastically. To be fair, they were treated to a very fine performance by all concerned. Campbell/Hinkis I thought gave outstanding performances especially as they were both making their debuts in the roles. I won't go on about Campbell, except to say he danced and partnered particularly well. I saw Kish as the Creature in the first run - this time he seemed even more sinister, or may be I've got better at noticing his menacing appearances! Isabelle Gasparini a beautifully characterised Justine.I have to say that while I think the ballet could do with a bit of pruning,I enjoy it more than many forum members.I think my biggest grouse it the designs which prevent those sitting in Side seats from seeing what is going on.

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I can't fault the dancing at all: excellent from Campbell, Hinkis, Kish and Acri. How I wish Act 3 was matched by Acts 1 and 2 which just don't do for me at all.  The audience were appreciative of the dancers at the end but there were no red run curtain calls at all. 

 

I was right - once is enough.  A shame really, as the dancers certainly gave it their all and there is so much more potential to be extracted from the book than is in the ballet. 

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I agree about the performances tonight, which were excellent. Campbell got everything possible out of the role of Victor, and gave it both drama and pathos; Hinkis was a lovely and very touching Elizabeth, though I thought perhaps (understandably) a bit tentative in the first pas de deux; and Kish a sad, strange creature.

 

I had felt rather depressed and dispirited about seeing this work again, after all I've read about it since seeing the première (which I enjoyed very much, with some reservations). But I actually enjoyed the first two acts quite a lot tonight, to my surprise. It was the last act that really didn't work for me this time; although (like all the acts) it looked amazing, it just seemed interminable, with a lot of samey choreography and slightly odd and unsatisfying elements. E.g. why does only Victor see the creature dancing when a) the creature is real, and b) the creature is there? I assume Victor is meant to be hallucinating; but the creature is actually in the vicinity, so that doesn't quite compute for me (but that's probably just me). And why doesn't Elizabeth shoot the creature when he's killing Henry?! She points the gun at him for ages, but doesn't fire. (I'm not being blasé about killing! But it would have been completely justified here after all. So I found it jolly frustrating. Maybe this happens in the book - I've (already) forgotten.) And the pas de deux for the creature and Elizabeth seemed to go on for ages for no real reason. By the end, I did feel sorry for everyone involved (including the creature), but really I just wanted to go home.

 

My feeling this time was that although there's a lot to like, it doesn't hang together as a work. And I think in fact that the most fundamental problem is the music. I actually like it quite a lot, but it's not right for a ballet. It's like a film score, and would be fine as such; but ballet music needs to have light and shade, contrast, climaxes, ebb and flow, etc. This music really only allows for choreography that reflects/parallels it, rather than expressing depths, heights, subtleties, nuances. It's storytelling music, and so the story was told. But that's not enough.

 

The performance was indeed greeted with loud cheering; but bizarrely, there were no front of curtain calls. The cheering/clapping stopped as soon as the red curtain came down after the company calls, and I did wonder if some at least of the cheering was because there were a lot of student/discount ticket holders who didn't realise that there would be more calls to come (and the calls didn't happen because the cheering/applause had stopped). Maybe that's an unworthy thought, but it was strange.

 

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6 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

I'm sitting in the Paul Hamlyn Hall right now (6:30pm), a favourite haunt of mine before a performance.  Curious to note - NO pre-booked tables for food / drinks: I don't think I can ever remember this.  Half of the Balcony restaurant occupied.  So, it's not only ticket sales but also the associated profit making catering that has also been affected it seems. 

 

…...and even the unreserved tables have yet to fill up. On other occasions, I've made sure I'm here before 6pm to secure a chair/ table. Last year, I sat on the floor several times. 

 

I noticed the attendance in the Amphi restaurant was zero - not a sausage (was sold)

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59 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

My feeling this time was that although there's a lot to like, it doesn't hang together as a work. And I think in fact that the most fundamental problem is the music. I actually like it quite a lot, but it's not right for a ballet. It's like a film score, and would be fine as such; but ballet music needs to have light and shade, contrast, climaxes, ebb and flow, etc. This music really only allows for choreography that reflects/parallels it, rather than expressing depths, heights, subtleties, nuances. It's storytelling music, and so the story was told. But that's not enough.

 

The performance was indeed greeted with loud cheering; but bizarrely, there were no front of curtain calls. The cheering/clapping stopped as soon as the red curtain came down after the company calls, and I did wonder if some at least of the cheering was because there were a lot of student/discount ticket holders who didn't realise that there would be more calls to come (and the calls didn't happen because the cheering/applause had stopped). Maybe that's an unworthy thought, but it was strange.

 

 

yes, the music is quite cinematic, though I don't mind that. I actually think it generally works quite well, and that there are contrasts and climaxes etc - but whether they are used to best effect is open to question. Some of the best bits of the score seem to be when there isn't anything happening!

 

No red-runs was a bit bizarre wasn't it. I agree that once the curtain dropped, the cheering stopped dead and every just left, which is a shame for the dancers. Obviously an inexperienced (with free/very cheap tickets via the student union!) crowd, filling up those sadly empty seats.

 

Overall, I quite like the piece, with some reservations. There are sections I'd cheerfully hack out, and quite a few bits I'd shorten, especially in Act 1. I'd also put an extra 50p in the meter for the lighting at times. 

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5 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

yes, the music is quite cinematic, though I don't mind that. I actually think it generally works quite well, and that there are contrasts and climaxes etc - but whether they are used to best effect is open to question. Some of the best bits of the score seem to be when there isn't anything happening!

 

No red-runs was a bit bizarre wasn't it. I agree that once the curtain dropped, the cheering stopped dead and every just left, which is a shame for the dancers. Obviously an inexperienced (with free/very cheap tickets via the student union!) crowd, filling up those sadly empty seats.

 

Overall, I quite like the piece, with some reservations. There are sections I'd cheerfully hack out, and quite a few bits I'd shorten, especially in Act 1. I'd also put an extra 50p in the meter for the lighting at times. 

 

I think all the fuses blew in the creation scene...

 

I've been at performances where the applause has moreorless stopped before the red-runs (didn't know they were called that!) but they still go ahead. I know it had completely stopped last night, but it would have started again if the dancers had appeared. Really not fair on them, especially since there were debuts involved.

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8 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 I'd also put an extra 50p in the meter for the lighting at times. 

 

And an extra bullet in the gun....poor Elizabeth died from a gunshot nobody heard

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2 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

Elizabeth died when the creature broke her neck surely

 

Oh, I missed that then, I thought Victor accidentally shot her while she was close to the Creature but wasn’t actually being held by it. Victor had his gun pointed in that general area

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I would agree about the splendid and committed performances put in by Hinkis  and Campbell (their PDD at the start of Act 2 was particularly good and well received)  and also Kish, although I do prefer McRae’s version of the creature. And Ptolemy Gidney as William was excellent ( a lot of intricate dancing for a young student) and received well deserved whoops from the audience at the end.

 

There is a lot going for this ballet, even if (like me) people feel they do not need to see multiple performances each run.   I think  the gothic Frankenstein story (which by now is pretty well known as an adapted  concept, if not so much in terms of the original) is eminently suitable  for telling  through dance. In arranging this Scarlett and  Liebermann include  a series of “dances macabres”-  such as occur for example in the gruesome dissection scene, in the raunchy tavern scene (where Henry is teased  about the latter), in the awful anticipation within the  William/Creature PDD, and in the waltz at the start of Act 3, where the Creature moves in and out of the dance and in and out of the vision of the ever more tormented Victor.

 

In fact that waltz is particularly clever – the beautiful ensemble dancing from the corps is interspersed with the horror of the Creature’s appearances and manipulations which require impeccable timing from all concerned to work so well.

 

The cinematic-style  music of much of the score does resonate after a few hearings, taking on some memorable passages when you get more familiar with them. I noticed last night that it marks particular emphases at important moments in the story. And it certainly assists the sense of developing unease and horror as the story unfolds.

 

Another clever element is the use of the “book” motif throughout (remembering this is a story based on a classic book) – starting with the young Elizabeth teasing the young Victor with one of his  books (something soon replicated by the older pair, and later reprised by the younger in a remembrance sequence), continuing with the “wrong” student books being discarded by the Professor, and of course principally through Victor’s little red note book. This starts out life happily enough as  a gift from his father, and is a receptacle for (presumably)  a love note from Elizabeth, but then it becomes a rather dark tome once it starts to hold  Victor’s set of re-animation instructions. It is carried off by the Creature (in Victor’s cloak) when he flees at the end of Act 1. Last night it fell out of the cloak in the confusion,  so  Campbell smartly threw it at Kish as he left, it being important for the Creature to have it later, when he reads it and tries to understand how he came to be. Later dropped, it shows the shocked Victor that his Creation is back- his action then in tearing out the pages is what makes the Creature realise how his Creator rejects him. The note book continues to play its part until the very end, when the Creature pitiably and desperately  looks through it as if it will give him the answer to restoring Victor’s life.

 

Finally the stage sets are brilliant.  The pyrotechnics of the steampunk/Heath Robinson-type lab machinery that against all odds  brings the Creature to life, are magnificent, and great fun !

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20 hours ago, JohnS said:

 I appreciate it’s difficult to imagine the Creature having awareness/insight immediately on reanimation but could a case be made to draw on both Frankenstein’s and the Creature’s perspectives? 

 

No John - not difficult. Our tortoises waken after 5 months of quasi-death in the fridge and immediately make a) meaningful eye-contact and b) for the nearest dandelion flower.... We like to think this is insight....! Hmm, not sure how relevant this is after all. Sorry!

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A few brief comments on Tuesday’s performance (was travelling to Europe with work yesterday). I’d seen the original run with Tristan Dyer, Sarah Lamb and Nehemiah Kish, and, with reservations, essentially enjoyed.

 

Despite what I had read on here,  the theatre was almost full (including the extremes of the Upper and Lower Slips) and the audience was noisy in its enthusiasm. The lady visiting from the USA next to me who had been discussing her favourite companies during the interval “absolutely loved it” and admitted the construction whereby after the expository narrative of Act One the dancing increases through to the climax. I’d agree it was odd that there were no red-runners though, especially with two debuts.

 

The Frst Act still doesn’t really work for me: it starts promisingly with the children, the switch to the adults (helped ny the fact that Alexander Campbell and Meghan Grace Hinkis were able to look so young) and the really lovely moment when both sets are on stage at the same time (“the child is father to the man” - probably need to write “The child is parent to the adult”) which reminded me of the end of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. I’d not previously noticed that it is Victor’s dizzingly excited spin around his mother that triggers her collapse, although somebody in the advanced stages of pregnancy dancing en pointe even within the ballet convention is unlikely to end happily. It helps set up Victor’s guilt over his mother’s death though. The dissection scene goes on too long surely, and the Tavern scene adds nothing, surely being there only to cover some scene setting. Being set stage left probably does nothing for sight lines in a horse-shoe shaped theatre either. The ‘Let’s Make a Body’ scene essentially works on the pyrotechnics and some dazzling dancing from Campbell, who is becoming a real virtuoso. Maybe Scarlett brings it out of him: I remember a new brilliance in his execution (which has always been very accomplished) during Age of Anxiety last year. Yes, the initial meeting with The Creature is surely too brief although I have read varied and convincing explanations for that.

 

Act Two again starts with what I think is unnecessary: we don’t need to see The Creature attacked. It adds nothing, other than raising unnecessary questions, such as why he hasn’t found any other clothes during the period or, indeed, discovered The Book.  I’m not convinced by Victor’s nightmare either. However, once we move to the mountains, I think the ballet picks up dramatic and choreographic pace very well. The relationship between William and Justine is beautifully charted, the pas de deux between Victor and Elizabeth is beautifully eloquent and breautifully danced Baty Campbell and Hinkis. He’s a true dance actor who brings such variety to all he does, whilst she surely deserved the epithet I once read to describe Sibley of “swallow swift.” The Creature’s solo of discovery is also beautifully set out and I think this one of the finest things I have seen Kish do: I’ve always enjoyed his work, and his long limbs seem convincingly “baggy” and stitched together here. The pas de deux with WIlliam (exacting stuff for a child and superbly delivered by Ptolemy Gidney) is also first class dance theatre and the climax of the act sheer horror.

 

Act Three, with its tribute to La Valse, makes an eloquent start. I’m not sure everyone else can see The Creature. After all, he’s dressed now in an approximation of breeches and jacket, whereas when he returns at the end he is back to his “naked” self. The start of the killing spree isn;t entirely convincing: Father simply discovered lying on the staircase. However, the Pas de Deux for The Creature with Elizabeth is very powerful as he attempts to force courtesy on her and the way in which she wants with horrified fascination as the denouncement builds towards her own death is truly unsettling. Campbell and Kish bring real passion to their final duet and The Creature’s desperate attempts to win his Creator’s love become truly moving. His actions may become monstrous but he is not a monster: others have brought him to that.

 

Of course, the sets are magnificent and the orchestra played wonderfully well to deserved cheers under Barry Wordsworth.

 

It’s not a perfect ballet, and I am surprised that more revisions do not seem to have been made. However, I cannot agree with those who think it meretricious and find it examines ideas of responsibility, relationship, creativity and loss in ways that can move one greatly. I thought it significant that the loudest cheers were reserved for Kish at curtain call as Scarlett had managed to turn on the conventional head the anticipated response to such a character.

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7 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

His actions may become monstrous but he is not a monster: otters have brought him to that.

 

As a member of the Otter Trust I must pick you up on that false slur James- !

 

That's a very interesting review--glad to hear of the cheering for Kish. I didn't like the ballet at all but, when I saw the first run I also thought the Creature's dancing deserved huge applause;  I very much disliked the make-up though, which so much concealed their expression and body , and I don't think it's much fun for the dancer either.

 

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1 hour ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Yes, the initial meeting with The Creature is surely too brief although I have read varied and convincing explanations for that.

 

So, we currently have the Creature running away and Victor left sitting there horrified?  I'm wondering how it would be if it were the other way around, since it appears that's what happens in the novel?

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Thanks for the very interesting review, Jamesrhblack. I would agree with much of what you say, but although it's not particularly illuminating I do think the tavern scene has some purpose - it shows Victor to be serious, studious, apart, isolated, ?obsessed etc, which does give him a bit more context I suppose. (And I felt as if it that scene was - happily - a bit shorter this time round, though I could be wrong.)

 

But in general, in spite of its good points I do think that (as others have said) the focus of the work really needs to be more on Victor and the creature (and less on Victor and Elizabeth); without that, I think it's difficult to really be involved in what happens towards/at the end. We see nothing of the creature's development - he just disappears and then reappears all those years later (and then spends a lot of his time just lurking around - and invisible to some of the audience - so we still learn no more about him.) It's frustrating because there could have been something really good here.

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56 minutes ago, alison said:

 

So, we currently have the Creature running away and Victor left sitting there horrified?  I'm wondering how it would be if it were the other way around, since it appears that's what happens in the novel?

 

But would then require a scene change if Frankenstein is to meet Clerval (admittedly very brief but I think useful for the narrative).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=POFQ7gxLwdw

 

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I know a lot of people don’t like the music but I think it’s so powerful in this scene. That repeated note as the Creature comes to life sends shivers down my spine. I have just noticed that Victor clings to Clerval in the same desperate way the Creature clings to Victor.

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16 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said:

An email announcing ENB's2 019/20 Season has just reached me, and I see that Akram Khan will be creating Creature - it's " inspired by Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein and explores themes of abandonment, rage and loss. "

 

 

I've just published the press release Ian!

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Mary said:

 

As a member of the Otter Trust I must pick you up on that false slur James- !

 

That's a very interesting review--glad to hear of the cheering for Kish. I didn't like the ballet at all but, when I saw the first run I also thought the Creature's dancing deserved huge applause;  I very much disliked the make-up though, which so much concealed their expression and body , and I don't think it's much fun for the dancer either.

 

I've seen Kish dance the Creature in two runs now and I think he's been excellent on both occasions. Although this is not my favourite ballet, it did inspire me to read the book (not usually my thing at all) and after that, I felt there was far more that could have been made of this character in the ballet. Indeed, when I watched it on Tuesday, I was frustrated in Act 2 to see Kish just appearing in the background for half the act - and of course, no appearance in Act 1 until right at the end.  I find the whole thing so frustrating!!

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sitting in Stalls Circle left on Tuesday, I was part amused, part frustrated at seeing the shadow of The Creature reflected on the front of the Frankenstein's house! Slightly dodgy lighting, although it did add a sinister touch to see The Creature greatly enlarged but, to me, invisible!

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9 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

sitting in Stalls Circle left on Tuesday, I was part amused, part frustrated at seeing the shadow of The Creature reflected on the front of the Frankenstein's house! Slightly dodgy lighting, although it did add a sinister touch to see The Creature greatly enlarged but, to me, invisible!

 

I thought that that effect was intentional! But one of the problems with the staging is that The Creature lurks a lot on the left hand side of the stage and is invisible to the audience seated there.

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