I Get Around: Frankenstein @ Silvercity

I’ve been hearing about events like these for years…I just never had any true desire to get off my duff and go. Here in Toronto, as happens in many other major film markets, certain theatres set aside a screen once or twice a month to broadcast a feed of a live event. It’s usually ballet or opera, but it has also stemmed over to wrestling, UFC, concerts, and one memorable hockey game.

But this week, the event being broadcast was one that finally piqued my curiosity – The National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle. Check out my full thoughts after the jump.

Right off the draw, I was excited since we got our tickets for free. While this seems cool as it is, I should point out that tickets to the live events generally run more expensive – about 50% more expensive actually. Nothing like a live broadcast to make you think of a 3-D IMAX ticket as a bargain! But ticket in hand I made my way into the cinema to meet up with Lady Hatter who’d gone and got our seats. I couldn’t help but crack a grin walking down the corridor, as every poster in the bank of “coming soon” boxes that dots the hallway of our theatre had been replaced with a poster for this event.

I got to the cinema twenty minutes ahead of showtime and got my first mild surprise – the place was packed. I’m talking front-to-back, both wings, people starting to sit in the neck-killing lower bank packed. On the one hand I shouldn’t be that stunned since Toronto has a very big theatre-going community, and this is a one-night-only event…but it still caught me a bit off guard to see so many patrons of the arts stuffed into the theatre as early as your average Twi-Hard.

As I made my way to our seats, I also couldn’t help but notice a demographic…namely “older”. Walking up the aisle with my drink in hand, I realized that Lady hatter and I in our early thirties were easily two of the youngest people in the room. I had to wonder what effect this might play.

As the show began (no ads, no trailers, just some small propaganda for seeing more events like this) I got my first surprise – when they toted this as a “Live Broadcast” they weren’t kidding. I had envisioned that we would be watching a specially filmed feed, shot when the production was run without an audience in the house to annoy with cameras. Not so – what we saw was filmed in the theatre with a full house in attendance. Doesn’t make any difference to me, just makes me feel sorry for the poor sap who went to the show in London only to have cameras annoy him all night.

Surprise number two came courtesy of the audience in the cinema with me. With Lady Hatter being a theatre brat, I’ve gone to a boatload of ballets, musicals, and stage plays in the years we’ve been together. In doing so – and in going to my own fair share growing up – I’ve noticed a decline in audience behaviour. The home theatre experience has led to people’s respect for the production and their fellow audience members to slip. Audiences – while still just well-behaved enough – are shifty, whispering, snack bag-rustling lot for the most part.

SO the surprise was that my audience was dead. fucking. silent. I seriously wish I could get all their names and only see shows, and hell even movies, with only them.

The final surprise was in the way the show was shot. While I didn’t expect the camera to be locked off on a tripod for two hours, I didn’t expect some of the shots and camerawork we were shown…and if anything, it was my only letdown of the night. When I go to a show, I’m obviously sitting in one spot with my eyes free to go where they want to go. I can soak up the changing colours of the lights behind the actors if I want…or ignore the actor speaking and fixate on the reaction of the actor they are speaking to. Not so on this night.

Along with the camera often fixating on one detail at a time, it also moved around the stage as scenes played out. Perhaps most jarringly, it would sweep up above and shoot certain moments from above the fray. This really shook me out of things as it made me hyper aware that I was seeing things at an angle that I really shouldn’t see. I appreciate the effort, but part of the fun of going to a live show is letting it wash over you…and the photography of this event denied me that fun.

That said, the production was extraordinary. The look of it was splendid in a rather minimalist way, and the staging came with an unexpected elegance – especially if one sat down with visions of Boris Karloff in their head. For this production, Boyle has cast Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch in the leads – with a twist. One plays Dr. Frankenstein and the other plays The Creature…and then the following night, they alternate roles. Guess it must heighten the demand for tickets – one could see it twice and essentially see two different shows! For my particular performance Cumberbatch played The Creature, and Miller The Doctor.

While I will say that the show was splendid and that I had a great time, I’m not going to get into an actual review – instead I’ll refer you back to the final episode of The Simon & Jo Film Show since they went and saw it live and recorded quite a splendid review themselves.

What I will say is that I dug seeing this sort of thing in a movie theatre, and count myself wickedly lucky that opportunities like this are there for the taking for me…especially when they’re a ten minute walk from my apartment.