National Theatre's Frankenstein: The play's the (free) thing, with Cumberbatch and Miller

By Jim Slotek

Rating: A

The sound of a cough in a theatre audience has always been a banal audio artifact, like chuckles at a witty line delivery, occasional evidence that you are in the dark, sharing an experience with hundreds of people.

When it happens during the 2011 U.K.’s National Theatre production of Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller– which wraps up its free YouTube stream on Wednesday – it reminds you why you are watching this acclaimed production in this format.

The blind scholar De Lacey (Karl Johnson) schools the monster (Cumberbatch) on the philosophy of existence

The National Theatre at Home, which is continuing its program on Thursday with a free stream of the 2018 production of Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra, with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo, is directing contributions from these screenings to theatrical charities. In the eventual loosening of COVID-19 lockdown, it is likely that live stage may be among the last of our social pleasures to reopen its doors to audiences.

This production, directed by  Danny Boyle, featured both actors taking turns on alternate nights playing the monster and its creator Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

This was probably a good thing, since the portrayal of the monster is so violently and spasmodically physical (there is what amounts to a nearly-naked 15-minute “birth scene” at the beginning with movements that often appear double-jointed and painful) that there must have been some necessary recovery time between performances.

Boyle’s production somewhat twists Mary Shelley’s plotline. But unlike many film versions, it gives you a reanimated man who articulates existential thoughts. This is no grunting killing machine, but a lonely individual clumsily looking for friendship (with death as collateral damage from his anguished flailing through life).

That evolution comes courtesy of the character of the blind man who shares his soup with the monster. Here, De Lacey (Karl Johnson), as the character is named, becomes the monster’s mentor, teaching him to talk and read, and introducing him to the thoughts of Plutarch and Milton.

Whichever lead is playing which character, this is an unforgettable version of the play, with moments of broad comedic quips, deep thoughts about how we should regard our Maker, what responsibility comes with the act of creation, and ultimately violence and remorse.

The National Theatre’s Frankenstein. Directed by Danny Boyle. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller and Karl Johnson. Plays free through Wednesday, May 6 on YouTube.