Presented by South by South East
This fiercely rebellious one-woman show is a comedy-punk-rock retelling of the life of Frankenstein’s author, the Mutha of all Monsters.
Sex. Death. Rock‘n’Roll. In a petticoat.
Mary is pissed. She lives in the shadow of the monster she created. Grappling with fame, scandal, sex, opium and motherhood – it’s time to set the record straight.
Many people know the tale of Dr Frankenstein and his monster, but the story of Mary Shelley is often overlooked. Throughout her life, Mary was haunted by the legacy of her feminist icon mother and the anarchic writings of her father. She became an infamous ‘other woman’ due to her scandalous affair with the married poet Percy Shelley. There is evidence to suggest she explored her bisexuality and became a queer ally, and one of her other novels may just have predicted the future.
Rebellious and unconventional, the Romantic writers were often called the rockstars of their era, and in this show Nic Lamont presents Mary as a modern-day punk celebrity – sweary, irreverent and ready to rock. Her life story is punctuated by iconic female rock anthems including those by Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette and Bonnie Tyler.
This is a show about being a rebel. It’s about what it means to become a mother of a genre, but also what it means to become a mother. It’s also about monsters; the reanimated corpse kind but also the kind that live inside us all…
About the Writer / Performer
Nic Lamont has penned dark comedy for BBC3 & BBCR4 with her duo The Twins Macabre. Lamont’s first play The Darklings received a VAULT After Dark Award Nomination and was named as Lyn Gardner’s Top Picks of the Festival. Her play What the Dolls Saw was picked out of hundreds of entries to be in the Women’s Writes Festival showcase at The Arcola Theatre in 2019. As a performer, Nic created the role of Nation McKinley in Rocky Horror Sequel Shock Treatment (King’s Head Theatre), and performed in the UK, Australia and West End runs of stage parody Graeme of Thrones. She is the lead in feminist horror feature film Egomaniac and plays Deb in sitcom Netflix and Kill (both Amazon Prime).
About the Company
Dark comedy masters, House of Macabre create weird and wonderful theatre, giving their audience both laughs and thrills. Committed to bringing new writing to the stage, their productions feature hi-jinx and hilarity with a Gothic edge. The minds behind the company are Nic Lamont and Adam Rhys-Davies, actor-writers who make up duo The Twins Macabre.
