Early Theatrical Adaptations of Frankenstein

Cooke as the Creature
in Presumption! (2)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: high stakes drama, sweeping natural scenery, questions of good and evil, fate and free will, the nature of humanity... All characteristics that make for an engaging story. These characteristics, along with established popularity, made Frankenstein the perfect source for theatrical adaptations. Frankenstein is still being adapted and performed today, but it was the first few adaptations that helped canonize the novel and embed some of the cultural stereotypes we recognize about the story today.

Melodrama as Context

It was only five years after Mary Shelley published Frankenstein when the first theatrical adaptation hit public English stages. Frankenstein was published as the melodrama movement was reaching peak momentum, and Frankenstein was brimming with melodramatic qualities, making it a prime source for adaptation. Melodrama in the early 1800's often contained fire, heightened emotions, the supernatural, drownings and other natural disasters/occurrences, romance, and topics of good vs. evil. 

Cover of Presumption! (1823) (5)

The First Theatrical Adaptation

Presumption! or, the Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake opened at the Lyceum (the English Opera House) in 1823. Presumption! is told in three acts and changes a decent portion of Shelley's story. Frankenstein is given a servant character named Fritz and he's often noted as the first presentation of the Igor character seen in other versions. Act 1 covers the creation of the "Hobgoblin," which isn't shown onstage. The Creature is bluish, silent, and violently strong (5). The audiences' first visual of the Creature is his violent outburst towards Frankenstein after being animated off-stage; he rushes on, breaks the sword Frankenstein is pointing at him, then flings him to the ground. The show ends with an avalanche killing both Frankenstein and the Creature after Frankenstein shoots at the 'Hobgoblin" with his pistol (3).

Peake rearranged the romantic couplings in the novel for a more theatrical experience. Frankenstein is betrothed to Agatha De'Lacey and Elizabeth is engaged to Clerval. Peake surmised that although Frankenstein dies in the end, the other lovers survive happily, which makes this piece have a lighter tone. Humor and music are also woven throughout the play to disrupt the seriousness and violence. Audiences left mixed reviews about this mixed-tone performance. Reviews often suggested confusion or distaste for the production as a whole but sang the praises of Cooke, who played the Creature 365 times by 1830 (3).

Mary Shelley's Response

Mary Shelley was among audiences for this first melodramatic adaption and shared in their mixed reactions. In a letter following the performance, Mary Shelley reflects that:

The play bill amused me extremely, for in the list of dramatis personae came, ______ [i.e., the Creature] by Mr. T. Cooke: this nameless mode of naming the unamiable is rather good [...] Cooke played ______'s part extremely well--his seeking as it were for support--his trying to grasp at the sounds he heard--all indeed he does was well imagined and executed. I was much amused, and it appeared to excites a breathless eagerness in the audience.

Mary Shelley enjoyed some parts of the show, but wasn't enthused about certain "management" aspects of the performance much in the same way other audience reviewers responded. The majority of her response to Presumption! was positive, and she enjoyed the representation of the Creature immensely (4).

Autumn Parodies

The Adelphi Theatre as it looked in 1848 (7)

Presumption! played in the most respected and advertised of the English minor stages, and it was this coupled with the great success of the run that inspired three subsequent parodies to run in the fall of the same year, 1823. The first parody played at the Adelphi and was titled Frank-in-Steam, or, The Modern Promise to Pay. The plot is similar, though very much farcical in nature. The protagonist is a student in debt who learns of the death of his persistent debt collector, Mr. Snatch. Foolishly, the student reanimates Mr. Snatch, but unfortunately, the undead Mr. Snatch is just as bent on collecting the student's debts as he was in life. The show ends with the student pushing Mr. Snatch into the boiler of a steam engine (2). The second moment of parody was a character named Frankenstitch (the Needle Prometheus) who sewed together pieces of bodies which is, perhaps, where the iconography of a sewn together Monster originates. The final moment of parody appeared in a burlesque where a little person portrayed a monster at the David-Royal Amphitheatre (3).

The Man and the Monster

Eight years after Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, Henry M. Milner put his twist on the novel and brought it to the stage. This adaptation is titled Frankenstein, The Man and the Monster (1). This adaptation often gets mistaken for Presumption! due to their similar titles, source materials, and location (3). The Man and the Monster premiered in July of 1826 at what is now the Old Vic theatre in London. The most notable aspect of Milner's adaptation is the scene in which Frankenstein animates the Creature. Milner opts to make this a pivotal scene, and it's Milner that gives modern culture the famous line of "It lives!" rather than Mary Shelley (6). This adaptation choice lingers throughout the many subsequent film versions of the story and remains in the mind of pop culture as a known-fact of Frankenstein.

Sources

(1) "British Library". Bl.Uk, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-man-and-the-monster-or-the-fate-of-frankenstein.

(2) “Frankenstein And The Reinvention Of “Technology” In “The Medium Is The Monster” On AU        Press—Digital Publications". Read.Aupress.Ca, https://read.aupress.ca/read/the-medium-is-the- monster/section/6df4f663-bf89-4f7f-9e1a-44a4954b0621.

(3) Hoehn, Douglas. "Hoehn, "The First Season Of Presumption!"". Knarf.English.Upenn.Edu, http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/hoehn.html.

(4) Marchetti, Marta. “The Journey of the Mute Frankenstein of Thomas Potter Cooke: Towards a Language for a New Science.” Medicina Nei Secoli: Arte e Scienza, vol. 31, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 49–69. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=136813714&site=eds-live&scope=site.

(5) Mckelvie, Callum. "Playing God: Richard Brinsley Peake And The Fate Of Frankenstein On Stage". Amdigital.Co.Uk, 2019, https://www.amdigital.co.uk/about/blog/item/playing-god-richard-brinsley-peake-and-the-fate-of-frankenstein-on-stage.

(6) Milner, Henry, and Mary Shelley. "Frankenstein Or The Man & The Monster!". Goodreads.Com, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6540672-frankenstein-or-the-man-the-monster.

(7) Nelson, Alfred et al. "The Adelphi Theatre Project: Graphics, Image For New Auditorium". Umass.Edu, 2016, https://www.umass.edu/AdelphiTheatreCalendar/img273c.htm.