REVIEW: I, VICTOR by Issy Flowers, Grimfest at Old Red Lion Theatre until 5 November 2022

‘A Queer gothic one-woman play that asks questions about the objectification of the female body’ ★★★

I, Victor features Phoebe Cresswell as Vic, and Poppy Charlton as a voiceover artist. The show is written by Issy Flower, directed by Jacob Freda and Issy Flower, and produced by Sophie Kilgannon.

Inspired by serial killer documentaries and Mary Shelley, Vic resolves to resurrect her lover, Liz, at any cost. But the more homicides she performs, the more she is forced to question whether her motives are purely love for Liz or something more. A Queer gothic one-woman play that asks questions about the objectification of the female body and the trope of 'Bury your Gays' through a female lens.

This one woman play by the accomplished Issy Flowers, takes the character of Victor Frankenstein and turns it on its head with our female protagonist, 'Vic'. Elizabeth is now Liz, and Justine, the victim maid, is still, well, dead. There's a lot of death. But a lot of laughs. To the uninitiated, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a teenager, and our Vic in this play, leans heavily into remembering how her and Liz shared their first kiss in Geneva on a school trip and drinking in graveyards. Flowers certainly has fun re-imagining the Romantics for a 21st century audience. Her research shows to the acquitted audience member in Shelly's life and creative circles. Vic snarkily hangs out on top of Godwin (Mary Shelley's father) and Woolstonecraft (her mother). Allusions abound throughout the script of the myths around the writing of Frankenstein to enjoy.

Director Jacob Freda relishes using theatrical devices to encapsulate the very theatricality of this new adaptation. Working together with actor Phoebe Cresswell, the two create a very haunting performance. Cresswell stalks around the stage for another victim of love. Her eyes are particularly piercing. Fluttering between inspired frenzy and passionate obsession. She goes through lovers in clubs, but what's lost along the way, is perhaps why she has chosen to do this to other women - she mentions Ted Bundy and male serial killers and their female victims, but it's not explored further. One may feel lost at times on where the story is. A series of 'meet-cute' women in clubs leads to the inevitable. But who do we feel sorry for? Vic or her victims?

This queer production tackles interesting content and from a source ripe for this retelling. One just wonders about the mixed messages and what the audience are meant to feel exactly by the end.

REVIEW: I, VICTOR by Issy Flowers, Grimfest at Old Red Lion Theatre

18-19 October Produced by Visible Delight Theatre Company

Twitter @visible_delight

GRIMFEST at Old Red Lion Theatre

18 Oct – 5 Nov 2022

Programme/Box Office https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/Grimfest.html

Reviewer: Emma Godwin