Freeroaming Frankenstein to keep Wagga audiences on the edge of their seats

Wagga’s own Freeroam Theatre is gearing up for an ”electrifying” presentation of the horror classic, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the CSU Riverina Playhouse.

Working with Rona Munro’s adaptation of the tale of a mad scientist’s quest to create life, the play blends two narratives.

“It’s told from the perspective of Mary Shelley and as she’s writing her novel on Frankenstein, the story develops on stage in real time,” director Natasha Shimpf said.

“So on one level, you get that author’s perspective highlighting her struggle as a female author of the time and how that fed into her writing.”

As the dual stories unfold, both the author and the ambitious scientist Victor Frankenstein are gripped by obsession: one to create the ultimate horror novel and the other, to play God.

“Mary Shelley was a real pioneer and it’s amazing to see the way her mind works and her drive – she was such a powerhouse,” Natasha said, adding that many of the themes remained relevant today.

“It’s about pushing the boundaries of science and mixing nature with technology, so it’s very interesting to explore.

“It makes you think about who is the monster. Is it Mary? Is it Victor for pushing the boundaries in the limits, or is it the actual creature who ends up destroying lives as a result of his existence?”

In terms of embracing technology, the all-Riverina team from Freeroam is also keen to push the boundaries on stage and create a show that will “electrify, terrify, and astound”.

“We have thrown everything we have at this,” Natasha said.

“The sound designers have actually Frankensteined their own instruments, taken junk parts and made their own instruments to make these wild sounds, which is just phenomenal!

“The costumes are quite traditional with a slightly modern and gothic twist, and we have a massive set, it’s this big structure with a catwalk, so it’s two levels, and then we have some moving parts.”

The show switches back and forwards to explore different worlds and Natasha said it was important to create something that could transform quickly and easily.

“In the story, they jump from being on a ship to being in a forest to being in a mansion, so we have a lot of movable set pieces to make that happen,” she said.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an ambitious step forward for the local theatre company, which launched in 2020.

“That was the first year where everything kind of went crazy with COVID and we thought, why not start a theatre company during this chaos?” Natasha said with a laugh.

“We all studied together at Charles Sturt University and were all in different year groups, but we came together with a show that one of our people was doing for his master’s.”

After debuting with the play Speaking in Tongues, the fledgling Freeroam Theatre followed up with Picnic at Hanging Rock.

“Each year we’re getting more and more support and the talent that’s in Wagga is just phenomenal,” Natasha said.

“We’ve also hired people from surrounding areas for this show, with our costume designer who’s from Leeton and we’ve got a set designer who’s from West Wyalong, so it feels like it just gets bigger and bigger, and our reach is growing as we meet more people.”

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will be shown at the CSU Riverside Playhouse from Thursday, 21 November to Saturday, 30 November.