Neal Bell's "Monster," on stage at Balch Arena Theater for its second and final weekend, is a mixed bag of standout acting and overdone theatrics.
This adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is billed as a creepier, sexier version of the classic tale. However, at times this concept gets in the way of the story itself, causing the action to feel disjointed. Above all else, most striking in Tufts' rendition of the tale is the fantastic performance offered by senior Chistopher Bonewitz.
Bonewitz, as the Creature, flawlessly captures the strangeness, sadness, and alienation of Frankenstein's creation. His seemingly painful movements and weirdly modulated diction make the audience forget that they are watching an actor on stage. Instead, Bonewitz envelops himself in his role and stays committed to it through the entire performance. The Creature's makeup, post-electrocution-esque hair, and tattered costuming add to this overall effect.
Senior Timothy Wagner also perfectly captures the two roles he plays. He puts Halle Berry to shame in the feline acting department with his spot-on portrayal of the Frankensteins' doomed cat. While the audience is still lamenting his character's untimely yet inevitable death at the hands of his experimentally-inclined owner, Wagner delivers another impressive and believable performance as Victor Frankenstein's adoring younger brother.
Wagner's boisterous presence onstage provides much-needed comic relief over the course of the rather lengthy production.
That is not to say that those in the Arena expected the story of a man obsessed with biology, death, and playing God to be a raucous, colorful romp. However, the enduring gloom and creepiness of the play seem so forced at times that Wagner's scenes give the audience something to look forward to.
In fairness, besides Wagner's characters' scenes, the play does have quite a few clever and fresh quips about family life and love. However, the audience is too used to the pervasive dreariness and overwrought fervor of the majority of the dialogue to fully appreciate these understated musings.
This ubiquitous feeling of overdone intensity is seen in the way Victor Frankenstein delivers most of his dialogue while invading the personal space of the other characters. Multiple passionate kisses are exchanged on stage, but they seem quite out of place. The audience gets the sense that these occur for shock value and are merely in place because Bell received a last-minute memo that "sexy" and "edgy" were in that year.
Perhaps most disappointingly, the script of "Monster" fails to obey the basic theater tenet of "show, don't tell."
The profound love that characters such as Victor's cousin, best friend, and younger brother feel for the good doctor is frequently stated, but this love is never rationalized or demonstrated. Scenes showing why Victor is such a magnetic and compelling personality are decidedly absent. The audience is left to assume that Victor must actually be a stunning conversationalist or a formidable chess player, but no evidence of his seemingly addicting personality is actually presented to the audience.
Nearly everything the audience knows about Victor Frankenstein is gleaned from point-blank statements delivered by his family and friends (e.g. "You love me because I'm human. You love me because I bleed").
In short, the audience watches a protagonist for over two hours who they're never truly given a reason to like.
"Monster" is not without entertainment value, and admittedly most who opt to sit in the audience this weekend will probably like the play. It is generally well-acted and the Gothic costumes and fitting scenery will make the audience feel that they're seeing something original.
The problem with the lengthy, rather slow-moving play is that it never really captures the audience's imagination. As a result, the audience may find itself more mesmerized by the smoke effects and stage blood in the second act than by the action and dialogue.
If nothing else, one can appreciate the little things about "Monster." After all, the reanimations are really quite fabulous.
