Stage Fright: Or the Fate of Frankenstein

In 1823 Mary Shelley watched with trepidation as an actor in green greasepaint gave life to her “hideous progeny.” Soon, over a dozen dramatizations of Frankenstein crowded onto stages in England and France. Through prints, playbills, and play texts—including the first edition of Shelley’s novel and the earliest images of Frankenstein’s monster—this exhibit explores how nineteenth-century playwrights transformed Shelley’s original vision, setting a pattern for future reincarnations of the tale that forever altered popular culture.