Frankenstein A Monster in paris

My grandson and I had the privilege of attending one of the performances of Frankenstein A Monster in Paris.

The play was directed by Paul Steventon-Marks who was also the writer. Paul being an award-winning playwright, director and actor with many of his works being performed nationwide. Paul was also responsible for the set, monster and scenic design.

The play itself is based on the original classic horror novel. However, the action is relocated to the Paris of the Belle Epoque. The year is 1859. The Eiffel Tower had just been built and the Moulin Rouge just opened its doors. The play views Paris from the gutters where no one is who or what they appear to be. Even so there are a lot of sections of the play where humour is very apparent.

During the production the stage was well used to maximum effect. The way you felt as if you were inside the hotel room was made more effective using lighting.

The lead role was taken by Mark Fletcher who gave an excellent performance as Frankenstein. Mariel Oliver gave an outstanding performance as Camille du Lartier. This is a lady who is thought to have TB of the spine but the twist at the end being due to having syphilis.  Mariel is exceptional at showing great depths of passion, also plays a darker role successfully. It was good to see someone who can adapt to different roles with different productions with great ease while being very easy to watch when on stage.

Carol Deakin is a great character actor and very versatile, who undertook the role of Baroness Frankenstein with great aplomb. Paul not only wrote the play but also played the monster and was responsible for its construction. His talents know no bounds.

I don’t know how Oldbury manage to find so many talented actors but the remaining three roles Rod Bissett as Dr Pastice, Tim Ward as Inspector Lautrec/Priest and Toni Bird as Elizabeth Beringer all made excellent contributions to the play and certainly helped to explain to the audience what the writer wished to portray.

All the production team need to be congratulated in making this a very successful production

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