Mary Shelley’s gothic horror Frankenstein will be brought to unconventional life next month in a major new comedy with music from Salisbury Playhouse and Bristol-based Living Spit.
Commissioned as part of Original Drama, the Playhouse’s commitment to producing new work and supporting artists in the South West, Frankenstein will be the latest in Living Spit’s series of irreverent musical adaptations of historical and literary works.
Living Spit was founded by Stu Mcloughlin and Howard Coggins in 2012 to present The Six Wives of Henry VIII (initially inspired by the notion that Coggins really does look like Henry VIII).
The outfit has since toured pubs, studio spaces and rural venues with productions based on historical stories or classical text, including A Christmas Carol, Adolf and Winston and Elizabeth I – Virgin on the Ridiculous. Its most recent production was The Fabulous Bacon Boys, a retelling of The Three Little Pigs. The company has been instrumental in revitalising the arts scene in North Somerset, since the area had all its arts funding cut almost a decade ago.
Living Spit’s reimagining of Shelley’s monstrous classic will play the Salisbury Playhouse from 20 October until 5 November. The show will then move on to the distinctive Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare from 12-20 November, becoming the biggest production to be staged at the once derelict 1930s Lido building revived by Banksy’s ‘Dismaland’ installation last year.
The Playhouse’s artistic director Gareth Machin said: ‘We are proud to support and facilitate Living Spit to take its work to a new level and reach more audiences, whilst retaining all of its ingenuity, wit and playfulness. The company has been a joy to host in The Salberg and we are excited to share their work on the main stage for the first time and engage with new audiences at Tropicana.”
Coggins and Mcloughlin added: “The opportunity to work with Salisbury Playhouse on the co-production of Frankenstein enables Living Spit to take a giant creative step that rivals that of Victor Frankenstein himself.
“The artistic expertise of Salisbury Playhouse, plus a high-energy four-piece band and Michael Vale’s winning stage design, propel us into dramatic new territory. We’re looking forward to presenting the show on the Playhouse’s main stage and to the opportunity of taking it to the iconic Tropicana – until recently a dark, deserted lido on the edge of the sea. We think the pioneering spirit of Mary Shelley would approve.”
The production will be directed by the co-founder of Bristol-based Shoofly Theatre, actor/director Craig Edwards.
Angela Thomas
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