San Francisco Ballet
Frankenstein
War Memorial Opera
House, San Francisco
February 22nd,
2017
Searching for connection
and companionship. Curiosity about ‘more’. What does it mean to be alive? The
porous space between human and spiritual realms. Obsession. Power. Loss. Love.
These themes, from Mary Shelley’s brilliant novel “Frankenstein”, are aptly mirrored
in Liam Scarlett’s ballet of the same name, currently running through the end
of this month at San Francisco Ballet. A co-production with The Royal Ballet,
this new full-length narrative work received its world premiere last year in
London, and its San Francisco Ballet premiere just last week. A new narrative
ballet is an exciting prospect, and in anticipation of seeing it for the first
time, I read Shelley’s book, finishing it just the day before the performance.
And I’m very glad I did.
Because of that reading, the plot made sense, as did the character
relationships and the larger narrative fibers. I didn’t have to search or rush
through the synopsis trying to figure out what was going on. The program notes
share that Scarlett’s Frankenstein is
“inspired” by Shelley’s source material. And that is accurate, to be sure. The
ballet holds true to the general arc, but there are differences as well. Some
parts are omitted or changed, some characterizations altered and some of the
transitions are a little abrupt, but as this is a three-Act ballet and not an
entire literary tome, Scarlett handled the adaptation of the story well.
Gorgeous, yet ominous
scrim and screen designs casted a foreboding atmosphere (scenes/costumes by
John Macfarlane, lights by David Finn and projection by Finn Ross) as the very
first notes of Lowell Liebermann’s score sang through the space. Amidst
lightning and heavy rains, we first meet Victor, Elizabeth, who had been adopted by the Frankenstein family, and Justine, the
housekeeper’s daughter, as children. Quickly the children grow up and the
household seems replete with joy. A perfect context for Victor (Joseph Walsh)
and Elizabeth (Frances Chung) to share the first of three main pas de deuxs.
This first duet is full of hope and light; its youthful abandon shining through
sweeping lifts, swirling turns and quick promenades in demi-pointe. Ending with
an accepted marriage proposal, all is well and the entire family rejoices, including
Caroline, Victor's very pregnant mother. But darkness underscores the moment. Caroline
goes into distress and dies in childbirth. And we see Justine (Sasha De Sola)
staring at Caroline’s locket, an item that later will damn her. The fragility
of human existence has taken over the Frankenstein family and heartbroken,
Victor departs to Ingolstadt University.
Clocking in at just
under one hour, there was still much more action to behold in Act I of Frankenstein. We travel with Victor to
Ingolstadt, encounter his classmates, one of whom becomes a friend and a
pivotal character in the story, Henry Clerval (Angelo Greco). While becoming
acquainted with their new educational environment, the group is both witness
and participant in a purposeful creepy ensemble dance in the anatomy
lecture/operating theatre, complete with specimen jars and cadaver limbs. While
gruesome, there is also a hidden
choreographic gem in this segment of the
ballet. Together, the students dance a mostly unison variation, which Scarlett
infused with an appropriately academic approach, really the textbook version of
his chosen steps. And the unison vocabulary in the phrase also spoke to the
students’ common pursuit and camaraderie. We follow them into a rowdy and tempestuous
tavern, which doesn’t distract Victor for a second – he is so enthralled with
his studies. In the Act’s final scene, Victor is back in the anatomy theatre,
where he creates The Creature. In a dynamic and lengthy solo, Walsh was able to
track Victor’s complicated human journey. From outward movements – turns ending
in arabesque, soaring battements and circular rond de jambs - he demonstrated
how Victor was searching for something. Perhaps knowledge, control or solace
from the tragedy of his mother’s death – maybe even a little of all three. And
then there is a dramatic shift. Once he succeeds in bringing The Creature into
being, he is suddenly at odds with and in dismay over what he has done. Walsh
was phenomenal in these closing moments, though I wonder if one of the many group
scenes could have been edited or even sacrificed to allow more time for this
potent transformation.
Joseph Walsh in Scarlett's Frankenstein Photo © Erik Tomasson |
After a brief Prologue,
Act II opened with a sweet and playful scene between Justine and Victor’s
younger brother William (Max Behrman-Rosenberg). As William’s birthday
celebration is about to unfold, Victor is suspicious, distracted and cautious. Cue
his betrothed Elizabeth to try and bring him back to the moment. With swirling
motifs and cantilevered turns from their first duet, she tries to remind him of
an earlier time in this, their second pas de deux. And her efforts seem to be
successful, at least for the most part, though Victor is periodically drawn
back to his despondent thoughts. Then, The Creature (Vitor Luiz) arrives at the
family’s estate. Alone onstage in front of the Frankenstein home, his first
solo is broad and vast in scope. There is both a longing for connection and
acceptance as well as an anger of being isolated and alone. Luiz danced
beautifully, and the crowd erupted in cheers at the end of his solo. Though,
for me, the choreography was a little curious; The Creature aspect of the character
getting lost in the overly stylistic steps. Death and destruction marks the end
of Act II, with The Creature killing William, and after the locket from the
beginning is found in her possession, Justine is accused and put to death.
Act III of Frankenstein begins in a very typical
story ballet fashion, with a ballroom scene, in this case the wedding banquet
for Victor and Elizabeth. Glittery adorned couples cascaded through the space
with pas de basques, balancés en tournant and waltzy lifts. All this grandeur
was led by Henry, a truly effervescent and charming portrayal by Greco. As the
ball continues, The Creature appears for short phrases, dancing with the guests
and then like a ghost, disappearing into the crowd. This game of cat-and-mouse
thoroughly tortures Victor, and you could see and feel from Walsh’s superior
acting that Victor was struggling with reality and the caverns of his
imagination. Was he really seeing The Creature?
In the last vignettes of
Scarlett’s Frankenstein, a number of
stunning pas de deuxs evolve. The first between Victor and Elizabeth, on this,
the occasion of their wedding. A maturity of movement was evident now between
the two, having traversed a significant number of years and life-changing events
together. The dance was peppered with visions of those who Victor believed had
perished because of his actions and choices, and so, it was also palpable
during the duet that for Victor, complete happiness would always elude him. The
Creature dances a diabolical and frightening duet with Elizabeth, which ends in
tragedy; after which we see The Creature staring at his hands with disgust in
the same way that Victor did at the close of Act I. And the last duet finds The Creature and Victor
battling with a physicality of frenzy, mania and compulsion. How does the clash
between these two entities ultimately end? Is it the same as Shelley’s book? Or
a different twist? You’ll have to go and see San Francisco Ballet in Scarlett’s
Frankenstein to find out.
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