Frankenstein

About

‘What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself. Our lives will […] be harmless, and free from the misery I now feel. Oh! my creator, make me happy!’

Mary W. Shelley wrote her first and most famous novel in 1818. Though it has turned a literary classic, it is mostly known from pop culture references, film adaptations, and variations emphasizing the image of a horrific monster stitched together from various body parts by the insane professor Frankenstein. The (in)human creature secretly brought to life in the ambitious scientist’s laboratory has no name in Mary Shelley’s iconic horror novel. The creator dismisses his creation upon its ‘birth’ as a failed experiment, throwing it on a solitary desperate journey where the only thing it longs for is a compassion. 

The production aims primarily to revive the original novel, where the author can speak to today’s audiences through her personal story, non-conformist life, and intellectual background. The novel is set against the backdrop of the climate crisis of that time, caused by a massive eruption of Indonesian Mount Tambora volcano in 1816, which brought about a two-year winter. The year Mary Shelley wrote her novel is indeed sometimes referred to as  ‘the summerless year’. Join us on a horror expedition through the polar wilderness and over harsh alpine peaks into the human soul, on a journey where disappointed expectations collide with brutal honesty.

Premiere performances: 13 and 14 November 2025 at the Estates Theatre

Creatives

Translation: Tomáš Korbař
Adaptation: Nina Jacques, Petra Tejnorová, Adam Dragún
Stage director: Petra Tejnorová
Dramaturgy: Nina Jacques
Sets: Antonín Šilar
Costume design: Lucie Sedláková
Music: Jan Burian ml.
Light design: Přemysl Janda, Antonín Šilar
Photography: Marek Bartoš
Technical design and Video post-production: Erik Bartoš
Movement coach: Tereza Ondrová

Cast

Tereza Jarčevská

Petr Vančura

Tereza Hof