Frankenstein With A Difference

A storm gathers outside. In an ordinary home, the lights flicker, a radio crackles, and an extraordinary tale begins. As a couple confront their own fears about impending parenthood, the story of Frankenstein erupts into life around them, as everyday objects are transformed into glaciers, a ship at sea, a dissecting room, a house on fire...

The latest adaptation in a series of Gothic texts, including the award-winning Dracula: The Untold Story (2021), imitating the dog’s and Leeds Playhouse’smultimedia exploration of Mary Shelley’s classic novel is a psychological thriller which dares to ask the question – what is it to be human?

Andrew Quick, Co-Director and Artistic Director of imitating the dog said:

“Mary Shelley’s novel has shaped storytelling since the 19th Century and provided source material for films, novels, poems, and art. Having already adapted Heart of Darkness (2018) and Dracula (2021), we feel ready to take on this complex and moving tale, one which explores the consequences of refusing love, of playing at being God, of not taking responsibility.

It will have all the hallmarks of an imitating the dog production, but we are renewing our interest in the physical and the visual that played out in our earlier work. Our focus is to create something truly magical, that is both moving and disturbing. It will be Frankenstein, but perhaps not as you know it.”

imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 25 years. Their work, which fuses live performance with digital technology, has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in venues, outdoor festivals, and events across the world. Past productions have included Hotel Methuselah, A Farewell to Arms, Heart of Darkness, Night of The Living Dead™ – Remix, Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show, Dracula: The Untold Story and most recently Macbeth. In 2022 imitating the dog presented Cinema Inferno, a ground-breaking new show for Paris haute couture house Maison Margiela, based on an original concept by John Galliano.

Leeds Playhouse is one of the UK’s leading producing theatres; a cultural hub, a place where people gather to tell and share stories and to engage in world class theatre. It makes work which is pioneering and relevant, seeking out the best companies and artists to create inspirational theatre in the heart of Yorkshire.

Tickets for Frankenstein at Northern Stage start at £12 and can be purchased in-person, over the phone on 0191 2305151 Monday-Friday, 12-4pm or online at northernstage.co.uk For further information on the Frankenstein tour visit imitatingthedog.co.uk