MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN / BY DAVID CATLIN

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY, 2025

DIRECTOR / BRIAN B. CROWE
SCENIC DESIGNER / SARAH BETH HALL
LIGHTING DESIGNER / ANDREW J. HUNGERFORD
COSTUME DESIGNER / YAO CHEN
SOUND DESIGNER / ARIANA CARDOZA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY AVERY BRUNKUS

The set, designed by Sarah Beth Hall, is spectacularly eerie, making use of gauzy ceiling-to-floor curtains to obscure some of the early scenes. Adding to the unsettling atmosphere of Switzerland is the constant thunderstorm created by Andrew Hungerford’s lighting design and Ariana Cardoza’s sound design. Hungerford’s lighting and Hall’s strategic trap doors also come into play with the Creature, making him appear suddenly out of nowhere and disappear just as easily into the darkness.

…Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a shiver-inducing and ultimately tragic work with an ending that is as shocking and surprising as Mary’s story. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to make the trip to Drew University in Madison to spend a riveting, unsettling evening with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein!

ALLEN NEUNER / OUT IN JERSEY

All the elements merge for a thrilling, complicated production. Costumes by Yao Chen, lighting by Andrew Hungerford, set design by Sarah Beth Hall and sound by Ariana Cardoza keep us constantly engaged as the story hurls relentlessly to its climax.

LIZ KEILL / TAPINTO MONTCLAIR

Costume designer Yao Chen implies a cadaverous creature without resorting to Party City prosthetics, and set designer Sarah Beth Hall transports viewers from Switzerland to the Arctic Circle without a single set change.

KEVIN COUGHLIN / MORRISTOWN GREEN