Frankenstein, ballet review: Monster mish-mash

This production is full of excellent craft, writes Lyndsey Winship, but the wretched monster is wrongfully overlooked
Under explored: the Creature
Lyndsey Winship27 May 2016

In Liam Scarlett’s new Frankenstein for the Royal Ballet, it’s not the monster who gets top billing. Instead, Victor Frankenstein (Federico Bonelli) and his fiancée Elizabeth (Laura Morera) are at the centre of the story.

It’s an interesting choice in a production full of excellent craft, from the rush of Victor and Elizabeth’s joyful first pas de deux (Morera never just lifted when she could be tossed in the air); to the intricate and fluid ensemble choreography; to some deft storytelling, in flashbacks, memories, suspense and surprises; and in a final pas de deux between Frankenstein and his Creature that uses the tropes of a love duet, shot through with violence, frustration and suffocating desperation.

That’s before even mentioning designer John Macfarlane’s beautiful painted backdrops of turbulent skies, Finn Ross’s eerie projections or Lowell Liebermann’s richly cinematic score, which does a lot of the emotional and narrative legwork.

But what of the Creature (Steven McRae)? Born from a riot of sparks and smoke, he promptly flees — the first missed opportunity to connect and sympathise with the wretched monster longing for love and turned brutal by rejection. And when he changes from needy to murderous, we just see a switch flipped, rather than an act of fear turned into tragedy.

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1/9

There are many fantastic moments and ideas here, but a key dimension is not fully explored.

Until May 27, Royal Opera House (020 7304 4000)

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