The House of Frankestein

More ham than Hammer was the verdict of The Isle of Wight County Press reporter Jon Moreno. And he was quite right. But of course, that is exactly what the author Martin Downing surely intended. The whole charade was just like a comic strip out of `Dandy` - farcical, preposterous and therefore great fun to perform. Nothing to scare even the most sensitive member of an audience and nothing sloppy to bore any child. In fact, the perfect offering for a drab November evening.

The set was extremely well conceived and functional with a secret panel and an archway which added authenticity to the castle effect. Bursts of eerie music at appropriate moments gave just the right twinge of impending doom to the shenanigans on stage and the costumes, particularly those of Count Dracula and The Countess Bathory, were perfect, although I did find that of The Monster a little too fussy.

Bearing in mind the limitations in casting a village production with only just enough actors to fill the roles, it was surprising that most of those on stage seemed to `fit the bill`. Chrissie Blow as the Countess Blathory looked quite regal and held herself particularly well. I found her delivery most effective and in keeping with an aristocrat. Nick Turvey in his first major role as Count Dracula, looked every inch the part. In fact, one of the highlights of the evening was their all too brief tango, which provoked giggles from the audience, being such a sudden, unexpected and welcome interlude in the midst of the revelations of the odd-ball gathering at Castle Frankenstein.

Steve Watts takes the acting honours as the masked Phantom of the Opera. He was clear, believable and kept in character throughout. Very Gallic.

The meat cleaver wielding Frau Lurker, played by Sue Clark, in a suitably blooded apron, was another well interpreted role, although whether she was a fictional character from a novel or a just a mad cook/housekeeper, slipped in to add a slightly macabre element to the slim plot, I cannot say..

Denise Farrow as The Monster, said nothing but grunted and mewed to express whatever was necessary and followed the others around on stage like a devoted puppy. An amusing twist to the usual bolt-through-the-head creation of Frankestein and one which was extremely funny, rather than pathetic.

Baron Frankestein himself, played by George Webster, came across as a relatively inept scientist and not the usual mad creator portrayed in the original story - yet another unusual interpretation. Both he and his wife, the Baroness - Chris Giles - seemed quite normal amidst such a motley collection of misfits.

Faye Farrin, the protegee of the Phantom, was suitably irritated by his unwelcome attentions, although she had travelled a long way to finally achieve the voice which he had spent a long time attempting to train. This was a role that suited her and one which appeared to flow quite naturally.

A more unlikely werewolf than Mike Santer is hard to imagine. None-the-less, he howled dramatically and gave an over-the-top performance, complete with an American accent and a suitable, if rather hilarious outfit comprising a tail, plus what seemed to be a child`s balaclava with ears and the merest glimpse of a thick hairy chest - not his own. Both he and Peter Farrin, playing Igor Frankenstein`s quite mad servant, were both straight out of the book `The Art of Coarse Acting` which, of course, was wholly in keeping with such a farcical plot.

The one misfit amongst the group was the Countess Bathory. She was a real, extremely evil person and not a vampire. Look up her infamous details up on the web - if you have the stomach for such revelations.

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