A Frankenstein hybrid in Mumbai

Slumdog director Danny Boyle returns to Mumbai, not with a film, but in a unique experiment of stage and screen. His recent award-winning play, Frankenstein, which he wanted to make for the last 20 years, will be screened before an audience at the NCPA this fortnight

Danny Boyle wanted to adapt Mary Shelley's book into a play 20 years ago. His version was to stick closer to the book in comparison with the many movie adaptations, giving the Creature a voice, instead of robbing it of one. The play, however, will not be performed in Mumbai, but using National Theatre's unique NT Live facility, will be shown through a digital recording. In this initiative, a stage director works closely with the camera director and when the play is being recorded, the audience pays a reduced ticket price. The cameras, often five or six, are then allowed to shoot it in a dynamic way, taking the viewer to the best seats in the house, using tracking shots and even a crane. In an email interview with Sunday MiDDAY, David Sabel, Head of Digital Media and Producer, National Theatre Live, talks about Frankenstein and how a play can be performed in front of a camera.

During a rehearsal of the play, a scene where the creature
has just been created.

Can you describe the manner in which plays are filmed?
We do two full camera rehearsals without an audience and ensure that the stage director works very closely with the camera director. Most importantly, we give complete flexibility to cameras in the auditorium. The audience that comes for the broadcast pays a reduced ticket price and is aware that cameras will be present -- this allows us to shoot it in a much more dynamic way, taking you to the best seats in the house, using tracking shots or, for example, a crane. We generally use five to six cameras to capture the production.
Lighting is adjusted to preserve the integrity of the design and help it work on camera, but the production is essentially unchanged. An experienced live, multi-camera director works with a close-knit team. We bring in needed external expertise, but the broadcasts are produced in-house so the NT stays very close to the production.u00a0 Everything is filmed in high definition and the sound is captured in 5.1 cinema surround sound.

How and when did this idea of 'filming' a play begin?
The Metropolitan Opera (New York) who began broadcasting performances to cinemas in 2006 inspired the National Theatre. There have been previous examples of transmitting live performances to large, outdoor screen or television, but what excited us about this concept was the recreation of the live, shared experience and the theatricality of the big screen. Advances in camera technology and especially the appearance of HD have vastly improved the ability to capture live performance.u00a0 The history of filmed live performance is not very good -- recordings of theatre are usually quite deadening to the art form. But we have approached the process very carefully and prioritised the audience in cinemas for the night of the filming, allowing complete flexibility for cameras in the auditorium, which has made a significant difference.

Why did Danny Boyle want to direct the play?
Danny was originally known in London as a theatre director, having had great success at venues such as the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). It was about twenty years ago at the RSC that he worked on a production with Nick Dear (playwright). At that time, they began a conversation about adapting Frankenstein but told from the Creature's perspective. It is an enduring myth that feels as contemporary in its themes today as it must have when it first appeared in Shelley's day.

How is the play different from the numerous other adaptations (both film and theatre) of Mary Shelley's novel?
Nick Dear's adaptation is very close to the novel and takes the story back to its roots, most notably in giving the Creature a voice, which the movies had notoriously robbed him of. The production really looks at the story from the Creature's perspective, on what it means to be an outsider on the margins of society.u00a0 Both Danny and Nick have approached it from this angle.

Why do the two actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller, alternately play Dr Frankenstein and the Creature?
Danny had the idea of casting two actors who would interchange the roles as a way of exploring the unique link between these two characters. I think it raises questions of the duality in this relationship, and explores the roles of the creator and the created, master and slave, father and son and so forth. It is really exciting to see how the different interpretations work -- for anyone passionate about theatre and acting, it is a real delight to see how both performances differ but each has tremendous impact in their own way. A short film shown before the play during the screening will take the audience to the rehearsal room where Danny, Nick Dear and the actors share their visions of this production.

Given that in theatre, everything on stage is part of the play, how do you choose which piece of action to shoot and which to leave out?
We are not making a film but broadcasting a piece of live theatre. Some of the techniques used and the production values are cinematic, but the idea is to take you to the heart of the action, where an audience in the theatre is most likely to be looking. It is obviously a different experience from sitting in the theatre, because the camera chooses what you see; however, in many ways, if we have done our job and are telling the story correctly, one should not really be aware of the camera. It is a bit like broadcasting live sport or a concert -- we take you to the action. The camera director works carefully with the stage director to tell this story through the camera, and give people a sense of sitting in the theatre.

Doesn't filming a play and broadcasting it blur the lines between theatre and cinema?
No, I don't think it does.u00a0 It is not the same experience -- it cannot be as you're not in the same space as the actors and the theatre audience ufffd However, the feedback we have received from these productions is that they really feel like a piece of theatre. They are a hybrid -- it does not feel like watching a film. The audience walking into the cinema can see the audience walking into the theatre and the actors are still playing to a live audience. We have found that the cinema broadcasts only encourage people to go to the theatre, either here at the NT or in their local theatres. It seems to re-engage people with the art form as opposed to cannibalising it.

Frankenstein will be open for public in Mumbai on June 17 (7 pm), 18 (7 pm) and 19 (4 pm & 7 pm), 2011, at Godrej Dance Theatre, NCPA. Suitable only for 15 years and above. Call 66223737 for tickets.

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