Anna Daniels
In 2011, the Royal National Theatre in London staged a production of Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. And this was no normal take on Mary Shelley’s classic tale. To change things up, Cumberbatch and Miller would alternate their roles, with each actor having an opportunity to play both Dr. Frankenstein and his creation. The productions were filmed, and have been previously broadcast in movie theaters, but now, the National Theatre’s YouTube page will stream both versions on two different dates.
#Frankenstein, directed by Academy Award®-winner Danny Boyle, is streaming on YouTube next week with #NationalTheatreAtHome.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary) alternate the roles of Frankenstein and his creature, on 30 Apr and 1 May. pic.twitter.com/xNFEhzuEHM
— National Theatre (@NationalTheatre) April 23, 2020
As a fan of all-things-Frankenstein, I’ve spent years wishing I could’ve seen Danny Boyle’s stage production of the tale, in which Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated the two leads roles of Frankenstein and his creature. The production was caught on film, and it’s been screened in movie theaters several times over the years – but I’ve always managed to miss it.
Now, I’ll have a much greater chance of finally witnessing this thing, as the National Theatre YouTube page is going to stream the show. Best of all, they’ll be streaming both versions, one with Cumberbatch playing the doctor and Miller playing the monster, and vice versa. The first will stream on April 30, and the next on May 1. Here’s a trailer for the production(s):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY85IzWexWo?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
“Frankenstein is creating life without women,” Boyle said of the production. “The idea is to bring two actors as close to that notion as possible. And how do you do that? In terms of the performance, Frankenstein and the Creature literally create each other: every other night they reinhabit each other.”
Filmed live in 2011 from the stage of the National Theatre in London, this thrilling, sold-out production became an international sensation, experienced by more than 800,000 people in cinemas around the world.
Directed by Academy Award®-winner Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire), this production of Frankenstein sees Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, Hamlet, Sherlock) and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Trainspotting) alternating between the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creation.
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature determines to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal.
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