Frankenstein’s creature at the foot of the Salzburg Fortress
This can almost be described as an insider tip playhouse, from which you can see the back of the Salzburg Fortress. Surprisingly, although it is the largest independent theater with a permanent ensemble, it is not really well received nationally. Wrongly. Because it offers a wide variety of productions with currently 10 premieres per season. Jérôme Junod, current director and chief dramaturge, is responsible for the second production this season, “Frankenstein”. He celebrated his debut at the house last year with “King Arthur”, his own new version of the historical material. Unfortunately, due to a lockdown, this production was only played a few times. Now he wrote his own stage version of Mary Shelley’s play, which was written in 1816, and gave it a very special, new drive.
The story can be imagined metaphorically like a Russian matryoshka doll – as a piece, in a piece, in a piece. Different narrative strands develop one after the other, starting and ending with Roberta Walton. She – endowed with a lot of male dominance – is an adventuress of the purest water who wants to get to the North Pole with a small crew on her own ship. Petra Staduan not only embodies this female free spirit, but just as brilliantly the condemned Justine in the penitential procession, as well as the rebellious Agatha, who denounces the inequality between rich and poor. As Walton, she is constantly present on stage and listens to the stories of the young Victor Frankenstein.
He, rescued by her from the Nordic ice hell, tells her about his youth and student years at the university in Ingolstadt under the dominance of two quirky professors. These supported him to the point of absolute self-abandonment in his endeavors to turn dead matter into living matter and to create an artificial human being. Antony Connor and Olaf Salzer have the laughs on their side in these wonderfully designed roles. She also secures her comedic talent as a sailor and changes just as skilfully into the serious characters of Frankenstein’s father and a blind revolutionary.
Wolfgang Kandler embodies the inquisitive young scientist who soon has to realize what misfortune he has brought upon his and his family’s life by creating his “creature”. Magdalena Oettl, in the role of Elisabeth, his fiancé, also frames the narrative as a new character introduced by Junod, Margaret Saville, a society columnist who is allowed to experience an amazing character development. Paul Andre Worms’ main character, Henry, childhood friend of Victor Frankenstein, is his complete opposite not only in terms of the character composition, but also visually. Cheerful and fun-loving, helpful and open, he is nevertheless murdered by Frankenstein’s monster out of thirst for revenge.
Except for the very last scene, he appears in black, tight-fitting trousers with a large, black hooded sweater in such a way that his face can hardly be seen. (Costumes Antoaneta Stereva) Hussan Nimr acts as Frankenstein’s creature in constant motion, with a darker threatening voice and makes his unnatural origin clear through his animal-based locomotion. He gets out on all fours, climbs scaffolding nimbly, and usually stands with his head bowed as he tries to tell his story. It is the ambivalence of this character and, above all, the recognition of why he himself has become a monster that is very touching and gives the story in the Salzburg theater its very own colour. Bernhard Eder accompanies the additional musical events live, both vocally and on the electric guitar and electronics, giving it emotional moments.
Junod’s “Frankenstein” interpretation is not primarily based on horror effects and the creation of goosebumps. This is followed by a finely worked out psychogram of an outsider, whose greatest shortcoming is his loneliness, which he tries to sublimate with feelings of revenge and thus becomes a mass murderer. A successful evening at the theater in an autumn in which, unfortunately, world history is teeming with monsters.