“Anyone who might be even the least bit concerned about being able to follow and understand a story told entirely through movement and music can put their worries aside.

Despite the lighting changes, changing set pieces and the number of actors and dancers on stage, the audience’s attention never strays from the play’s central narrative thanks, in part, to the strong performances of Nance, Gallant and Condlln.

Coulter’s musical score and the movement and dance choreography created for this production by Wendy Gorling and Stephen Cota, as well as the work of the production’s design team, make Panych’s Frankenstein Revived a masterclass in how to instil emotion and foster an atmosphere in which an impactful and nuanced story can be told without words.”

“The Creature is played by Marcus Nance…Nance gives The Creature a nobility, an inner humanity…

I wonder, is it significant that Marcus Nance is a Black man playing The Creature?

The Creature is treated badly by most he meets, treated as ‘other’. One considers that Blacks have been treated badly through history, as ‘other.’ I thought about that. More significant is that both Marcus Nance as The Creature and Charlie Gallant as Dr. Frankenstein are exquisite looking men. Nance brings out the humanness of The Creature, the experience of loneliness and the embrace of kindness and love, while Charlie Gallant illuminates Dr. Frankenstein’s lack of character, when he abandons The Creature, refuses to create a female companion for him, exudes hubris and arrogance. Terrific performances, both.”

Visually, the production presents one striking scene after another. But, handsome as it is, the show merely retails the plot in pantomime and fails to stimulate either the emotions or the intellect…

…Frankenstein Revived serves mostly to remind us of the episodes of Shelley’s story, if we already know it, rather than to involve us in them.”

“[Charlie] Gallant carries the brunt of the narrative and does it grandly, with a sharp and sympathetic performance that captures the hubristic charm of the character.

[Marcus] Nance, however, is the star here. His performance is fabulous, otherworldly yet revealing the dawning humanity of the creature as he finds first his body and then society. He is hard to look at, particularly in early scenes, yet he always amplifies the pathos of the creature’s predicament without descending into caricature. Forget all memories of the green guy with the bolts in his head.

Also highly successful is the presence of Laura Condlln playing Shelley herself, the novelist on stage conjuring up her characters and driving their story forward.”

“Frankenstein Revived emerges not just as a meditation on what it means to be human, but as a metaphor for the process of artistic creation itself, with its exhilarating triumphs and soul-crushing doubts.,,

Panych has a remarkable range, as evidenced by the terrific work he did as director of Mark Crawford’s political comedy, The Gig, earlier this season, which couldn’t be more different from Frankenstein Revived. He also wrote and directed the slender musical Wanderlust, based on the life story of Canadian poet Robert Service, at Stratford in 2012, which didn’t impress me as much as his current offering.

More than a decade later, Frankenstein Revived shows him in full control of his considerable powers both as writer and director. The play may be praised with faint damns by some who will brand it as “experimental theatre.” Don’t be fooled. This is a vital, gripping theatrical experience. Let’s hope it presages more frequent visits by Panych to Stratford’s stages.”

“Within seconds of the opening sequence, it was clear Morris Panych – developer/director of the mesmerizing Frankenstein Revived – had reached goal number one – to horrify and amaze an audience with his stunningly unique take on Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic Frankenstein…

…Frankenstein Revived is what superb and meaningful theatre is all about. With wide appeal it is a genuine masterpiece – innovative, thrilling, beautifully staged, deeply moving with slices of anger and sorrow – a visual joy to behold. Not to be missed.”

“Panych’s ‘Frankenstein Revived’ is more than a horror and sci-fi tale.

It becomes a solid visual warning about obsessive and ruthless idealism, which still permeates the twenty-first-century world as we know it today…

Marcus Nance’s performance as the Creature is absolute perfection. Nance is wholly grounded in the moment and embodies many feelings and emotions ranging from pity, pathos, regret, and vengeance.

P.S.: As a retired secondary school English teacher, I would endorse seeing the production with students, especially if they study the novel. Seeing the production live would reflect at least one of the Ministry of Education document expectations.”