A retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, crafted by the innovative theatre company, imitating the dog, merges digital technology with compelling live theatre at the Liverpool Playhouse from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 April.
This modern adaptation of Frankenstein, produced by imitating the dog, follows their thought-provoking and boundary-pushing productions at the Playhouse, including Heart of Darkness and Macbeth. It’s co-produced with Leeds Playhouse, with whom they have previously collaborated on the critically-acclaimed recreation of George A. Romero’s classic 1968 zombie movie Night of The Living Dead – Remix, and the UK Theatre Award-winning Dracula: The Untold Story, both of which were staged at Liverpool Playhouse.
The cast are Georgia-Mae Myers (Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre; Wars of the Roses & Henry VI – Rebellion, Royal Shakespeare Company; Dismissed, Soho Theatre) and Nedum Okonyia (Possession, Arcola Theatre). Created by imitating the dog’s co-artistic directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quickand Simon Wainwright. Set and costume designer Hayley Grindle (Iphigenia in Splott, Liverpool Everyman; Flare Path, Liverpool Playhouse) has created a dynamic, transformative space, which houses the digital tricks and video-mapping techniques associated with imitating the dog.
Andrew Quick said: “It’s not easy to adapt Frankenstein in a literal way as it has different narrative structures within it. Our take looks at the personal elements of the story; what it is to be human and the whole question of human consciousness. In many ways, our version is a love story or at least a story that explores what it is to be loved and what it is to be rejected.
“It will have all the hallmarks of imitating the dog production, but we are renewing our interest in the physical and the visual that played out in our earlier work. Our focus is to create something truly magical, that is both moving and disturbing. It will be Frankenstein, but perhaps not as you know it.”
imitating the dog’s Frankenstein is one of the most intimate pieces the company has made, an extremely sad and tragic tale and one that’s moving and exhilarating at the same time.
Catch the psychological thriller and witness a story that transcends time, asking profound questions of creation and existence from Wednesday 17 April to Saturday 20 April 2024 at the Liverpool Playhouse. Tickets priced from £11 – £36 are available at Frankenstein [imitating the dog] | Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres.
