Frankenstein is practically Shakespearian in the number of dead bodies that have accrued by the end of the story.  I was not expecting that.

Liam Scarlett’s ballet of Frankenstein was a co-production between The Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. (Co-productions are all the rage these days, as big companies try to find ways to fund big new ballets.) The ballet premiered in London in 2016 to decidedly negative reviews. When it premiered in San Francisco last year, I took a pass. I wasn’t interested in seeing Frankenstein as a ballet. Nor was I interested in seeing Frankenstein as a play, film, or opera. Although I had never read Mary Shelley’s novel, I knew enough about the story to know it wasn’t for me.

But it was in rep again this year at SFB, so I went, out of an odd mixture of obligation, curiosity, and genuine interest. As a production, it’s lavish, with great sets and costumes. And as a story, there’s more love (and also more death) than I expected. Give me a romantic pas de deux in beautiful costumes and I’m a goner.

Fortunately, Frankenstein includes those moments. The first and third acts are anchored by pas de deux between Victor Frankenstein and his love, Elizabeth. You can absolutely see the influence of Kenneth MacMillan in Scarlett’s ballet. MacMillan’s three-act tragedies are staples of The Royal Ballet, where Scarlett danced. Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Mayerling—all three are heavily “produced,” with a plot advanced primarily through a series of pas de deux, supplemented by party scenes whose sole purpose seems to be to get more dancers on stage. Partway through the first act, I thought to myself, “Well, the real sign of a MacMillan ballet is a brothel (or equivalent) scene.” Literally the next scene in Frankenstein took place at a pub frequented by both medical students and prostitutes. I felt smugly triumphant in that moment, I have to admit!

I wasn’t really planning on liking the ballet, so I was pleasantly surprised that I did. Despite the length (clocking in at 2 hours and 48 minutes, I spent part of the last act worried that I would miss my train), it was engrossing. There was good dancing, although Victor Frankenstein himself doesn’t do a whole lot. Nor does The Creature. In fact, when you actually look at the amount of dancing done per character, it’s not a ton. I realize I’m saying this as a viewer, not as a dancer. A friend of mine who attended said the same thing—“There wasn’t enough dancing!” It’s an interesting criticism. I had the same one after watching Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella last season. I haven’t quite worked it out yet—how a 3 hour ballet can seem to not have enough dancing—but when I do I will let you know!

San Francisco Ballet: Frankenstein
March 6, 2018, at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House