alphabetical author index

Frankenstein (one-act) (Sandberg)

  • R.N. Sandberg
  • Short Play, Drama, Adaptations (Literature), 18th Century
  • 3M, 2F
  • ISBN: PS655

"Sandberg has taken Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and turned it into an intriguing drama that operates on several levels. By delving into the powerful subtext of the novel, this Frankenstein transcends the monster-story foundation to become a complex psychological drama."

Variety

  • Short Play
  • Drama, Adaptations (Literature)
  • 55 minutes

  • Time Period: 18th Century
  • Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Cautions: Mild Violence, Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, High School/Secondary, Professional Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student
Set in the icy polar regions where scientist Victor Frankenstein has chased the creature he brought to life, this highly theatrical and emotional play traces Frankenstein's path to the final confrontation with his intelligent, articulate, sensitive, and powerfully violent child.

(A full-length version of this play is also available.)

REVIEWS:

"An intriguing drama... delving into the powerful subtext of the novel... transcends the monster-story foundation to become a complex psychological drama."

 Variety

"Sandberg has taken Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and turned it into an intriguing drama that operates on several levels. By delving into the powerful subtext of the novel, this Frankenstein transcends the monster-story foundation to become a complex psychological drama."

 Variety

"The grand darkness, moral perplexities and extravagant conceptions of Mary Shelley's early 19th-century Romantic novel retain considerable power... Sandberg's arrangement of flashbacks works well, with fever dreams and actual memory merging in a macabre dance..."

 Karen Mathieson, The Seattle Times

"CRITIC'S CHOICE -- The deft adaptation of Frankenstein by Seattle playwright R. N. Sandberg has been given an ingenious, effective production by Intiman Theatre."

 Wayne Johnson, The Seattle Times

"Sandberg, in an extraordinarily high-minded new stage version, reclaims much of Shelley's original poignancy and tragedy without dropping its real horror."

 David Kochanasz, Capitol Hill Times

"Can anything be salvaged from Mary Shelley's mistreated creature after The Munsters and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein? The answer... is yes. ...Sandberg focuses all attention on questions at the heart of the story -- the responsibilities of creation, the limits of science, love, misery, and revenge. ...Do not go... looking for a fun fright show; expect to be challenged."

 Bruce Barcott, The Weekly

"Sandberg's situations and dialogue set off thoughts about parent and child, God and creation, science and technology, theory and practice... His adaptation of Shelley's sprawl of physical incident and emotional effusion is ingenious..."

 Joe Adcock, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  • Casting: 3M, 2F
  • Casting Attributes: Expandable casting

Name Price
Frankenstein (one-act) (Sandberg) Script This is optional. Order Now

Set in the icy polar regions where scientist Victor Frankenstein has chased the creature he brought to life, this highly theatrical and emotional play traces Frankenstein's path to the final confrontation with his intelligent, articulate, sensitive, and powerfully violent child.

$24.95