Voices, Monstrous and Hopeful: Catalyst Theatre's Frankenstein

This article examines Catalyst Theatre’s highly successful musical adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, mounted last spring at Toronto’s Bluma Appel Theatre. Drawing upon some recent work by Slavoj i ek and Mladen Dolar, and focussing on the topic of voice, I seek both to explore the production’s unusual aesthetic dynamics and to illuminate its social consciousness. I also extend upon Craig Walker’s analysis of “hopeful monsters” in Canadian drama in order to suggest how Catalyst’s peculiar “lyricization” of Frankenstein’s story invites a new—and potentially catalyzing—mode of engagement with Shelley’s central themes and conflicts.