Robin Morgan:
The "otherizing" of women is the oldest oppression known to our species, and it's the model, the template, for all other oppressions.

UPCOMING PRODUCTION:

Where do monsters come from?

Frankenstein Incarnate: The Passions of Mary Shelley
A world premiere
written by Anne Bertram
directed by Carin Bratlie
October 26 – November 17, 2007

The life of novelist Mary Shelley overlaps and intertwines with the story that made her famous, illuminating the creator and creature within us all.

Theatre Unbound Development of Frankenstein Incarnate

March 2006. It began with an e-mail.

Hey ladies,
Okay, I can't sleep and I was tossing around the idea of a haunted house, and the late October slot we have at the Playwrights' Center. Just throwing this out ... All Female Frankenstein??
Stacey

After several weeks of "Reply - All," and a survey of existing stage adaptations of Frankenstein, the company members of Theatre Unbound knew we had to pursue this project - a classic tale of horror, written by a woman, interpreted by women. We wanted a new script, developed specifically for our company, not only adapting Mary Shelley's famous novel, but also weaving in the story of her complicated and tragic life.

August 2006. We gathered in a rehearsal room and created "living storyboards" of Frankenstein - a series of silent tableaux to tell the story. Some images: A man digging through a welter of arms and legs. A monster, outside in the darkness, looking in on a happy family within their lighted house. A bride, being murdered on her wedding night.

December 2006. Our resident playwright and Managing Director Anne Bertram brought in the first draft. Working title: Mary Shelley. Director Carin Bratlie had signed on by this time, and joined us in a classroom at the Loft as we did a cold reading of the script. This draft highlighted the ways in which Mary Shelley was abandoned by those she loved. Her mother died within days of giving birth to her. Her father rejected her for eloping with a married man, although he himself subscribed to the doctrine of free love. Her husband died in a boating accident at the age of 29. It's no wonder she could bring such pathos to the creature abandoned by his maker. Images: fire. Ice. A pregnant woman.

May 2007. Second draft, revised based on feedback and further research, and newly titled Frankenstein Incarnate: The Passions of Mary Shelley. A reading at Dreamland Arts. A new second act, emphasizing Mary’s abandonment of her surviving loved ones after her husband's death.

We started to think about how to achieve the transitions between Mary's world and the world of the book. Several company members have experience in movement-intensive techniques. Artistic Associate Heather Brady, a choreographer who has served as Movement Coach on a number of previous productions, hit on the idea of developing distinct "movement vocabularies" for each character, with a sharp contrast in style between the two worlds.

August 2007. Third draft, and auditions. We settled which company members will play which characters, and cast two actresses from outside the company in the roles of Lord Byron and Shelley'’s lover, Jane Williams. Despite a plethora of schedule conflicts, we established a series of movement and text workshops with Heather and Anne, to collaborate on the movement vocabularies and refine the script before intensive rehearsals begin in September.

Images: Shelley making a bright gesture as a new idea strikes him, Lord Byron, scoping the room, and hiding his limp, Mary standing firm and drawing a deep breath. The creature pleading, his hands upturned.

It's over a year now since that first midnight inspiration. A year of delving into Mary Shelley's great work, and digging into the passions, experiments, ambitions and fears of her time. Join us in October and see what we've created.

It's alive.