Author Trevor Allen’s play, “The Creature,” premiering this month at Cinnabar Theater, is a quiet, contemplative work - a look at Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” through the eyes of The Creature and of the man he called Father, Victor Frankenstein.
“I grew up,” writes Allen, “watching the old black and white Frankenstein films with my father on late night TV shows like ‘Creature Features.’ It wasn’t the horror or sci fi elements that captivated me most, it was the sad story of that unnamed monster. “When Allen finally read Shelley’s novel, “I fell in love with the original story. It was much deeper, more complex and heartbreaking than the one I thought I knew.”
Several weeks ago, I interviewed former Petaluman A.D. Freese, in town because his film, “Bastards y Diablos” was part of the Petaluma International Film Festival. Freese said something that resonated and seems appropriate here. “The films that appeal to me,” he said, “are the ones that take you through an emotional experience.” Substitute “plays” for “films” and you have “The Creature.”
Although it’s being presented during the Halloween season, “The Creature” is not a spooky, or frightening play, rather a thoughtful one. And a topical one at a time in our national story when many of us seem determined to hate and fear those who look, sound or act, different.
I marveled at the dedication the three actors - Tim Kniffin, Robert Parsons and Richard Pallaziol - must have to this theater piece. The format is original: much of the time Frankenstein and The Creature tell their stories in a manner I can best describe as point-counterpoint. It’s effective for the audience, but difficult for the actors. Stage manager Ross Tiffany-Brown said he and Kniffin come in early to run lines because the dialogue is so complex.
Don’t be misled: this may be a quiet piece with minimal action, but that doesn’t mean it’s not demanding for the actors, and these three carry the work splendidly, skillfully and subtly directed by Jon Tracy.
Those attending the show may wish to take a sweater or jacket, not because the theater is cold but because it seems cold. That’s due to director-set designer Tracy’s simple, but oh-so-effective white, snow-covered set and the icy haze (an odorless, water-based fog) that surrounds the stage. Combined with Jared Emerson-Johnson’s sound design, Tracy’s lighting design and Skipper Skeoch’s costumes, this is a seamless, highly theatrical work.
It is also theater of the mind. Allen said the show began as a podcast, and it retains much of that theatricality - as the characters tell their story, the mind creates pictures based on their words.
Here’s what I took away from “The Creature,” what I kept coming back to in the days after I saw the production. Each of us is part of one or more minorities. Do not judge fellow living beings by their appearance. That is something they have no control over. Judge instead by their actions. And always, always, be kind. Remember The Creature and his longing for someone, anyone to see past his skin.
“The Creature” plays weekends through Nov. 1: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. at Cinnabar Theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd. North. Reservations are advised. Tickets are $15-$25. Visit cinnabartheater.org or call 763-8920.
(Contact Katie Watts at argus@arguscourier.com)
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