Alter Egos

Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire fame is creating a much anticipated production of Frankenstein for the London stage, to open in February.

Sneak peek: the play will star Benedict Cumberbatch (from Atonement and The Other Boleyn Girl) and Jonny Lee Miller (from, among other things, the BBC TV movie Byron, in which he played our favorite libertine). Cumberbatch and Miller will share the leading roles. One will play creator and the other creation on a given night, then they will swap parts for the next, back and forth, according to notes in a recent Variety.

One can understand how that might mess with the minds of the actors, evoking the sort of mingled identity at the heart of the novel. How will it affect the experience of an audience, who sees the play on just one of those nights?

Interesting.