‘Frankenstein’ reborn

Young Chang

During rehearsal for “Frankenstein 1930” at the Trilogy Playhouse,

someone was electrocuted -- OK, jolted.

Director Alicia Butler laughs about it now, how actor James Mulligan

(a.k.a. Victor Frankenstein) got a shock from some wires.

It figures that the number of actors in the show is 13.

Trilogy Playhouse’s “Frankenstein,” a dramatic production of the 1930s

film, brings the timeworn tale to life through Oct. 28 in a theater whose

signature is its intimacy. Dr. Frankenstein’s Creature is as in-your-face

as could be. The chills and frights are almost too close for comfort.

They’ve even gotten some screams, Butler said. Young children have

been sufficiently spooked, and adults have understood the intentional

melodramatic style of the cast’s ways.

“It’s good to creep out that age,” Butler said of the show’s effects

on a preteen audience. “But it’s not horrific. In these days and times

right now, we don’t want to terrify anyone.”

Butler won’t say much about the character, whose physical hideousness

is an integral part of the story. She wants the Creature’s looks to be a

surprise to the audience. She did say that he’s multidimensional.

“It’s written so you’re empathetic toward him and you feel sorry for

him,” she said.

Saxton, whose monstrous facade requires 1 1/2 hours in the makeup

chair before every performance, said the most challenging aspect of

portraying the Creature is his reticence.

“Trying to get his emotions across to an audience with just grunts and

groans,” he said, “you have to do it all physically.”

The 25-year-old Costa Mesan, whose previous experience at the Trilogy

included a role in “Anne of Green Gables” earlier this year, said he not

only learned to walk like a monster, but to think like one too.

“He’s like a child, I think,” Saxton said. “He’s looking for something

to be explained, something familiar to him.”

Mulligan said the most fascinating perk about playing Dr. Frankenstein

is discovering the character’s aversion for death.

“The thing that is most attractive about Victor is he’s so fascinated

with death because he’s so in love with life,” the Laguna Hills actor

said. “That’s why he tries to stop death.”

The challenge in playing the role was understanding Frankenstein’s

intelligence, as well as insanity.

“He doesn’t have the sanity that doctors have,” Mulligan said. “He’s

just smart. And actually, most insane people are extremely intelligent.”

FYI

* WHAT: “Frankenstein 1930”

* WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with a 5 p.m. matinee Sundays

through Oct. 28

* WHERE: Trilogy Playhouse, 2930 Bristol St., Building C-106, Costa

Mesa

* COST: $13 or $15

* CALL: (714) 957-3347, Ext. 1