April 28, 2015

Frankenstein 2029: The Future Meets the Past

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More than 1,000 people descended upon the Williams Arts Campus last week to explore Frankenstein 2029, a groundbreaking multi-venue, multi-era, multimedia-infused performance piece.

Based on Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, the production challenged both the boundaries of live performance and what it means to be human in an ever-accelerating technological world. More than 80 students, faculty, staff, and alumni fused their expertise in neuroscience, art, chemistry, computer science, engineering, English, and theater to bring the show to life.

The performance was entirely self guided, and visitors could choose how and what they viewed. They could follow a particular character like the Creature or Victor Neurotech, as actors moved among venues, or explore the venue itself, which remained “alive” after the actors left.

Check out audience reactions from the production:

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View more images of the production on Flickr
Visit the Frankenstein 2029 website
Read more about Frankenstein 2029 in Lafayette Magazine

Art major Ben Williamson ’16 and film and media studies major Scott Kovacs ’15 work on props for the production.
Students paint neurons as scenery for the show.
Joseph Rothschild ’16 and Sami Meyerson ’15 put together some of the props.
Students build icebergs for the production in the Williams Visual Arts Building parking lot.
Gavin Knox ’17 helps set up the lab.
Students staged a mock protest (Society Against Victor NeuroTech) on the Quad to express concerns over the creations emanating from the Victor Neurotech lab.
Students staged a mock protest (Society Against Victor NeuroTech) on the Quad to express concerns over the creations emanating from the Victor Neurotech lab.
The cast of Frankenstein 2029
Victor Frankenstein, played by Gavin Knox ’17, has a few drinks while mulling over the moral implications of his creations.
Actors play neurons and woodland creatures as audience members explore the Place of Innocence in the Grossman Gallery.
Audience members wore surgical masks as they traveled through the venues.
Mechanical engineering major Keaton Holappa ’16 as Percy Shelley and English major Joseph Rothschild ’16 as Lord Byron
Alex Merriman ’17 as Frankenstein's creature, carries a recently murdered William Frankenstein.
Below deck on the boat, Walton, played by Professor Bob Mattison, speaks with recently rescued Victor Frankenstein, played by Gavin Knox ’17.
Students perform in the original play “Frankenstein 2029” by Gavin Knox ’17 and Professor Suzanne Westfall.
Scientists work on a creation in the Victor NeuroTech lab.
Mary Shelley’s ghostly parents William Godwin, played by Professor Rob Root, and Mary Wollstonecraft, played by Professor Mary Armstrong, appear in Shelley’s apartment re-visioned as a 1960's hippie dwelling.
Victor Frankenstein encounters Captain Walton on his ship.
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  1. Pingback: Reanimation of Interdisciplinary Performances – Frankenstein 2029 · Voices · Lafayette College

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