GSC’s Frankenstein Foretells Our Concerns of Uncontrolled Science

Published on: 23 Oct, 2025
Updated on: 23 Oct, 2025

A new production of Frankenstein has started its run at Guildford’s St Nicolas’ Church. It is the The final production in Guildford Shakespeare Company’s 2025.

The adaptation of Mary Shelley’s play comes in an age when, 200 years on, Artificial Intelligence is growing more and more powerful, with AI-led rights advocacy groups being formed and debate growing around whether “digital suffering” could be a real thing. Shelley’s gothic thriller reveals shocking parallels with our present day fears of technology.

This brand-new play is adapted and directed by GSC regular collaborator Caroline Devlin, who directed GSC’s production of King Lear with Brian Blessed and adapted their recent single-actor Jekyll & Hyde.

Published in 1818, just five years after Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, Shelley’s novel follows the ambitious Victor Frankenstein as he attempts to create a super-being less fallible than the human race, from the remains of inanimate body parts.

But when his experiment fails to live up to his ambition and he realises the horror of what he has created, Frankenstein abandons his project to its own fate, triggering a terrifying chain of events that engulfs him, his family and possibly even humanity itself.

Director Caroline Devlin and GSC have been working with AI consultant, Chris Kissack from the Isle of Man to explore the parallels between Shelley’s original 1818 novel and our current understanding of Artificial Intelligence, its application and where it might lead.

Devlin said: “In approaching the adaptation, I was struck, and horrified, by how absolutely Mary Shelley’s vision has been realised by 2025. There is little to change, adapt or even censor. How an 18 year old could understand and interpret the fears of a generation: industrialisation, ecological disaster, the elite abusing power, humanity careering down a dark and irreversible path to destruction, is truly mesmerising.

“My driver in this adaptation has been to honour Mary’s story, letting her step into our time and say, ‘I told you so.’ ”

The production features three actors, and continues GSC’s site responsive approach, utilising the unique connection the church offers to Shelley’s “creation” narrative.

To see further details and book please follow the link: https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/frankenstein/