Of Monsters and Men (Kentucky Shakespeare)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein By David Catlin Directed by Matt Wallace

Review by Kate Barry Entire contents are copyright @2025 by Kate Barry. All rights reserved.

Any literature scholar or horror flick fan will tell you Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the quintessential monster story. The tale of a mad scientist creating life has been referenced countless times throughout the decades in various facets of pop culture. Who could even forget the Mel Brooks spin on the story? Currently, Kentucky Shakespeare’s take on Shelley’s story is an emotional roller coaster that will thrill audiences through their nearly sold out extended run.

The play opens with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Sasha Cifuentes) in the early days of her marriage to Percy Bysshe Shelley (Crystian Wiltshire). It’s a dark and stormy night as they drink wine with their pals Lord Byron (Zachary Burrell), Claire Clairmont (Mollie Murk), and Dr. John Polidori (Nick Willis). Legend has it that Mary created her monster story at this gathering of ghost stories. Cifuentes’ Mary is dared to create an original story at the behest of Burrell’s cocksure Lord Byron. What follows is a play within the play where story telling dissolves into the misadventures of Victor Frankenstein and his Modern Prometheus.

 Cifuentes’s Mary is a trustworthy narrator with great enthusiasm for her tale. Seen previously in Cymbaline, Cifuentes proves that Mary was a tremendous writer and had more talent than any of her Gothic contemporaries. As the story goes deeper into elements of science and what it means to bring a being to life, Cifuentes beautifully taps into Mary’s loss of a pregnancy. Her grief weighs heavy as the characters in her story ache for connection, companionship and love.

As Victor Frankenstein, Crystian Wiltshire brings a truly compelling performance. Wiltshire’s scientist begins a journey hungry for knowledge about life and lightning. Wiltshire’s performance soon drives close to obsessive madness with every blood soaked experiment. At the startling discovery of his creation, Wiltshire’s Victor finds himself denying his creature after a mere indulgence of his success. This denial leads Victor on breathless journey of grief and fear. Wiltshire brings his best to Victor, finding the source for life and quickly regretting what this mean for all of mankind.

With any story surrounding a monster-character, Frankenstein’s creature must have an excellent reveal and live up to the hype. Don’t worry, there are no screws in the neck, nor is this creature painted green. Zachary Burrell’s appearance as the creature is striking from the moment you see his hand slap the screen of his holding cell. With deep heaving breaths, a deep raspy timbre, animalistic movements and choppy line delivery, Burrell does exceptional work to make for an original interpretation of a classic character. Burrell’s creature carries a heavy emotional burden as he searches for his creator and in turn, any kind of companion. Burrell’s creature is realistic and heartbreaking.

On the surface, Frankenstein at Kentucky Shakespeare is a creepy tale of a scientist driven mad by ambition and a creature on the hunt. Dig a little deeper and you will notice that each character suffers a loss nearly too overwhelming to overcome. These elements of tragedy rooted in Mary Shelley’s work are what make the story so timeless and so compelling.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Kentucky Shakespeare

October 1-November 1, 2025

Kentucky Shakespeare Headquarters

616 Myrtle Street Louisville KY 40208 kyshakespeare.com