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Production photo of Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Tristan Dyer as Victor Frankenstein and Sarah Lamb as Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Wei Wang as The Creature in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Artists of The Royal Ballet in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Artists of The Royal Ballet in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Federico Bonelli as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein. © ROH 2016. Photograph by Bill Cooper

Nehemiah Kish as The Creature and Meaghan Grace Hinkis as Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Tristan Dyer as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Wei Wang as The Creature in Frankenstein, The Royal Ballet © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski

Steven McRae as The Creature and Federico Bonelli as Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein. ©ROH 2016. Photograph by Bill Cooper

Frankenstein

Love, grief and the desire for power over death fuel a tragic spiral of events in Liam Scarlett's ballet adaptation of Mary Shelley's masterpiece.

Most recent performance

There are currently no scheduled performances of Frankenstein. It was last on stage 5–23 March 2019 as part of the Spring 2018/19 season.

The Story

Victor Frankenstein is about to leave home for university, away from his family and Elizabeth, the woman he loves. Just before he departs, his mother dies in childbirth. Victor becomes obsessed with the idea of bringing his mother back to life, and his relentless studies eventually lead him to animate non-living matter. Repulsed by the Creature he has brought into the world, he flees.

Read more… (Contains spoilers)

Background

Liam Scarlett's Frankenstein, his first full-length ballet for the Royal Opera House main stage, is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic Gothic novel. The score, composed for the ballet by Lowell Liebermann, sweeps the dramatic action towards its devastating end, while the detailed and chilling designs by John Macfarlane bring the Creature and the anatomy lab to terrifying life.

Scarlett's choreography is highly expressive and dramatic as it explores the grief and desperation felt by Victor and the Creature's childlike need for acceptance. The ballet's momentum is sustained by the whole Company, with fellow students pushing Victor further into isolation and obsession, couples swirling around the stage in a dark waltz at his wedding, and the inevitable, tragic end.

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