The Monster With No Name

By Julia Bohn, Copy Desk Lead 

Illustration by Katheryn Stinnett

The Lone Star-College Kingwood production of Playing With Fire (After Frankenstein) premiered its take on the closing of the tortuous journey between the good doctor and his famous creature.

The play begins with Frankenstein and his monster staring each other at the top of the world years and years later after their first encounter. Bruce Arrick plays a worn-down dying Frankenstein who’s losing his mind chasing down his creation across the globe. 

Arrick gave a compelling performance as Frankenstein. He truly captured the essence of a man that is truly losing his mind and facing the mistakes he made in life. In the play, he relives the old Frankenstein’s memories watching how each domino falls that brought Frankenstein there dying at the top of the world, and his only company an abomination of a creature his creation.

The other electrified partner of this stand off at the top of the world, the creature played by Kieran Kitchen was the true star of the play. Kitchen truly owned that humble stage in the Administration and Performing Arts theater. Kitchen made me feel Frankenstein monster’s agony, ire and longing for acceptance from his creator. His performance completely stole the show.

Overall Playing With Fire (After Frankenstein) was a good play which I would rate a 3 out of 5 stars. While Arrick and Kitchen both gave great performances, there were times the play seemed to be going too slow or details like Frankenstein’s little brother felt omitted. 

When it came to the audio visuals, at times they felt a little too overpowering. The first couple effects were exciting and woke you up from the sleepy slow parts of the play. However, there were times when it felt like they rang out five shots one after another and too much recorded screaming. 

Even with the lulls in between the excitement, I enjoyed my time watching director Kalliope Vlahos and producer Eric Skiles’s play. Congratulations to all the staff who pulled together to make this performance happen.