Darkness

I went to the cinema with EnglishRose today for a bit of an unusual event. We saw Frankenstein which was a National Theatre play from Danny Boyle, originally screened live at cinemas around the UK but now back by popular demand. Weird in itself, but the second unusual thing was that the actors playing the two main roles (Frankenstein and his Creature) swapped on different nights so there was two versions of the play. There's some subtext in there - who is really the monster? etc.

So the two main actors were Jonny Lee Millar and Benedict Cumberbach and we saw BC as Frankenstein. First of all, I loved BC already and I love him even more now I've seen this. He's so very very strange and he has bags of charisma, real presence. I saw an article once that said women wanted to run their fingers through his hair. I concur. And he was excellent as Frankenstein (and Sherlock Holmes and that guy out of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

I thought the whole thing was fantastic, a really classy slick production with an exciting plot and narrative. Shocking in places, touching in others. Lots of very contemporary issues in there, raising questions we're still talking about. I can't believe Mary Shelley wrote this 200 years ago at age 19 she was clearly a forward thinking woman.

And its not just me who liked it, it won the 2012 Olivier Award for Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. I could not recommend it more highly.

I hope to see it again with the actors the other way round, I only wish I could have seen it live.