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.

Dance of the Evening

What ever happened to the graveyard twist indeed?

More a Frankenstein Story

A movie on apes might be a Frankenstein story? Not according to any theory of evolution.

Hear James Franco relate Rise of the Apes, his upcoming prequel to Planet of the Apes, to our favorite monster.

So Easy, It's Scary

"Make me!"

"Now eat me!"

Better than Peeps.

SPARK OF BEING Trailer - Dave Douglas & Keystone, and Bill Morrison

Close your eyes and just listen

New tunes to which the monster arises. A film with jazz score, creation by Dave Douglas and Keystone, first performed last April. Yes I see it, yes I hear it.

Spark of Being: It is testament to how deep and human the myth of the monster is that this story continues to be retold in image, sound, and word.

Reappearing

It's not as if the monster only looms in my imagination as the days get shorter and the nights get cold. It's just that everyone else starts thinking about him more at this time of year. Candy displays, greeting card racks, costume shops. The familiar face leers back at me. Hello, old friend.