In the 200 years since Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, popular adaptations鈥攊n particular, the 1931 film starring a shuffling, moaning Boris Karloff with bolts sticking out of his neck鈥攈ave altered our collective perception of Dr. Frankenstein鈥檚 original creation. 

So when Zach Bramel 鈥�98 decided to write a play to mark the novel鈥檚 bicentennial, he set about restoring the monster鈥檚 intelligence. 鈥淲e wanted to clear up some of those misconceptions about the creature鈥攖hat it was dumb, brutish, green,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat it was non-verbal. The show is mostly non-verbal, but when we do let it speak, as it does in the novel, it鈥檚 eloquent.鈥� 

And in Creature, it鈥檚 a 7-foot-tall modified body puppet inhabited by Bramel. 鈥淢y legs are Creature鈥檚 legs and the torso encapsulates my upper body. My left hand is up over my head in its head, and my right arm is Creature鈥檚 right arm.鈥� A second puppeteer manipulates Creature鈥檚 left arm, which becomes almost a second character.  

The title Creature was fabricated by master builder Deva North, who also created every puppet in the supporting cast, none of which is more than 3 feet tall. 鈥淲e are playing with the idea of scale, and puppetry allows that,鈥� Bramel says.     Bramel, who majored in English, did some theater at Bellarmine and worked with Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and Bunbury Theater after graduation, but it was his wife, Carrie Christensen, a founding member of the Squallis Puppeteers, who introduced him to puppetry. 鈥淥nce I was exposed to it, I identified it as the way I wanted to tell my stories.鈥�

Although he was the playwright for Creature, 鈥淚 use that term loosely,鈥� Bramel said, 鈥渂ecause the show is largely wordless. I鈥檓 trying to capture moments and feelings, rather than a narrative arc. It鈥檚 relatively unconventional.鈥� The moments are woven together by music written by Axel Cooper and performed live (amplified rock music, along with violence both implied and explicit, is why the 50-minute play is recommended for adults and 鈥渂rave children ages 8 and up鈥�).

Why does Frankenstein, published in 1818, still resonate? 鈥淎t the end of the day, the Creature does make choices that define it as a monster, and that monster is the beginning of the modern monster. It has influenced nearly everything that has come since,鈥� Bramel said.

鈥淚t resonates, too, because it鈥檚 so ambiguous and open-ended. It leaves room for interpretation for each viewer. The Creature can represent whatever the viewer brings to it鈥攅nvironmental degradation, social injustice, intolerance鈥攚hatever fear you want to hang on the monster, it can be your scapegoat.鈥� 

But a deep vein of empathy also runs through this story of a lonely, alienated being.

鈥淲e called it the Creature, rather than the Monster,鈥� Bramel said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 more often referred to as Creature in the novel, and that also connotes the idea of a creator. You can鈥檛 have a creation without a creator鈥攊n this case, a father figure that won鈥檛 admit love to, or even acknowledge, the thing he has created.鈥�

Creature: A Puppet Frankenstein Adaptation
 Nov. 2, 3 and 9 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. 

Suspend, 721 E. Washington St., Louisville

Tickets: $18 ($15 for 4 p.m. matinee)