{"id":19995,"date":"2020-10-05T09:16:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T16:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=19995"},"modified":"2020-10-05T09:16:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T16:16:17","slug":"one-man-frankenstein-adaptation-offers-more-than-meets-the-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2020\/10\/05\/one-man-frankenstein-adaptation-offers-more-than-meets-the-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"One-man Frankenstein<\/em> adaptation offers more than meets the eye"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMonsters aren\u2019t born, they\u2019re made.\u201d<\/p>\n

So says Jason Stevens, the sole actor\/director\/producer of Mary Shelly\u2019s Frankenstein<\/em>, which will run through October at Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria\u2019s only 130-year-old fourth-floor ballroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mesmerizing,\u201d says Stevens of a good monster story.<\/p>\n

Stevens studied acting in London and worked as an actor in New York, and he has since appeared in films and on television as well as on theatre-company stages in Vancouver and, now, Victoria. Stevens says that the appeal of a novel from 1818 is simple: it\u2019s all about a good story that still has relevance today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just tell the story, and allow [it] to happen,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Craigdarroch Castle while being used for the movie Spooky House<\/em> (photo by Brian Davies).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stevens says that the only way it works is if he gets \u201clost in the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never try to do anything great,\u201d he says. \u201cI just always try to make sure I do something good\u2014the way that any tradesman would. Don\u2019t get in the way of the story. Don\u2019t try to make it about your own ego. Serve the story. Be truthful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens says that at 600 pages, Frankenstein<\/em> is a monster of a novel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read the story and I loved it,\u201d he says, \u201cand I thought, how do I tell that story in an hour? Victor Frankenstein is a classic tragic hero. He\u2019s idealistic; he wishes to change things; he wants to usher in a brave new world; his intentions are all good; he believes he is doing things for the right, and he is consumed by the monster that he has created. Having said that, he\u2019s a selfish young man, he\u2026 doesn\u2019t obviously think through the consequences. It doesn\u2019t even occur to him that he has responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Stevens, there\u2019s a parable there: he says that if you don\u2019t take responsibility for things that you have created, they will come after you, will dog your steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere does that leave the monster? Naked and alone,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then being hounded and pursued by every human\u2014it\u2019s going to piss you off. You\u2019re going to start seeking retribution, redress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many actors, Stevens has his pre-show rituals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a thing I did for A Christmas Carol<\/em>, which is something Dickens himself did when he did readings. [I] stand up and survey the audience\u2014I make contact, make eye contact with people for a moment, before I begin.\u201d<\/p>\n

This way, Stevens says, he prepares them for the fact that seeing a play is an intimate experience. Frankenstein <\/em>is no different.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to take away in Frankenstein<\/em>,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason it\u2019s been around for as long as it has\u2026 It\u2019s different from A Christmas Carol<\/em>, because people leave A Christmas Carol<\/em> feeling Christmas-y. [With] Frankenstein<\/em>there\u2019s a somberness that tends to be. [There\u2019s] a reflectiveness. Just come to listen to a monster story. Come to listen to a monster story and a parable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frankenstein
\n<\/em>6 pm Thursday October 8, 15, 22 and 29
\n$30, Craigdarroch Castle
\nthecastle.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMonsters aren\u2019t born, they\u2019re made.\u201d So says Jason Stevens, the sole actor\/director\/producer of Mary Shelly\u2019s Frankenstein, which will run through October at Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria\u2019s only 130-year-old fourth-floor ballroom. \u201cIt\u2019s mesmerizing,\u201d says Stevens of a good monster story. Stevens studied acting in London and worked as an actor in New York, and he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19996,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19995\/revisions\/19996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}