Frankenstein (radio)

Frankenstein is a radio program from the American radio anthology series "Radio Tales". The anthology series adapted classic works of American and world literature for the radio. The series was a recipient of numerous awards, including four Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (in 2004, [ [http://www.awrt.org/press-releases/2004/Press_Release_%20Announce_Winners.pdf "AWRT Press Release"] AWRT.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] 2003, [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/030402.gracie.html "NPR Productions Win Gracie Allen Awards"] NPR.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] 2001, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20011126020253/www.awrt.org/awards/2000GracieWinners.html "2001 Gracie Allen Award Winners"] AWRT.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] and 1998), a New York Festivals WorldMedal, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207122048/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2004RPwinners.pdf "2004 Winners, Radio Programming and Promotion, New York Festivals"] NewYorkFestivals.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] and a Golden Reel Merit Award. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20010802161539/www.nfcb.org/2001reelsinfo.html "NFCB Announces 2001 Golden Reel Award Winners"] NFCB.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] The “Frankenstein” program from the Radio Tales series was an adaptation of the classic novel by Mary Shelley.

Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “Frankenstein” was first broadcast via NPR on November 2, 1999 [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 1999". NPR Marketing, Oct. - Dec. 1999, Vol. V, No. IV] . The program encompassed two half-hour installments that were distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] . The “Frankenstein” program debuted on XM Satellite Radio on June 7, 2003.

Production information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008.] . Composer Winifred Phillips created over fifty-six minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] . “Frankenstein” was part of the fourth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Fall 1999". NPR Marketing, Oct. - Dec. 1999, Vol. V, No. IV] .

Media

The Radio Tales production of “Frankenstein” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] and Ampcast.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] . Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including the “Frankenstein” program, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site [ [ http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=578&ProductCategoryId=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed [September 26] , 2008.] .

Opening narration

Plot summary

Victor Frankenstein is a gifted chemistry student with a passion for the subject equal to his formidable intellect. During his time at the university he made design improvements to several scientific instruments, which greatly impressed the academia. Victor however now grows frustrated, realizing he has surpassed his teachers and can wring no more benefit from his time as a student. Intending to return home and wed his beloved Elizabeth (who has waited patiently for him), Victor is suddenly delayed by an abrupt discovery – his previous investigations into physiology have revealed the source of life itself, and given him the power to bestow life on dead matter.

Armed with this knowledge, Victor becomes obsessed with turning this abstract discovery into a concrete experiment of grandiose scale – he would reanimate a human being. To accomplish this, he prowls graveyards, dissecting rooms, slaughterhouses, collecting the parts from which he should construct his perfect being. When the body is fully assembled, Victor applies the process by which life might be coaxed into the dead flesh, and the creature opens his eyes.

Victor had imagined that the creature would be beautiful; to the contrary, the creature’s ugliness is profound. Horrified, Victor retreats from the laboratory, and at dawn he hurries out into the rain to restlessly walk the streets, haunted by his own careless experiment and the fiend which has issued from it. When he returns home, the creature is gone. Afterwards, Victor succumbs to a fever that grips him for months. At one point during the fever, the creature slips into Victor’s sickroom and begs Victor to construct a female companion – for the rest of society has rejected him. Then the creature leaves.

When Victor recovers, he reluctantly begins work on the ‘companion’ he was asked to make… but then Victor realizes that any children resulting from this union might become a race of monsters and a curse upon future humanity. With this in mind, Victor destroys the half-finished body. The creature sees this act of destruction from one of the windows, and howls in rage before he disappears from sight.

Victor returns to his hometown, still fearing that the creature may be following him. Thinking that extra precautions will protect him, Victor carries weapons, and keeps alert. At length, Victor and his beloved Elizabeth are married, as they had planned. After the ceremony the newlyweds take a room at an inn. All seems well, but as night falls, Victor begins thinking of the creature, grows increasingly nervous, and paces the hallways of the inn alone while his new wife retires to their room. Then, Victor hears Elizabeth scream, and runs back to the room to find her strangled to death. Victor faints. Recovering his senses later (surrounded by the keepers of the inn) Victor rushes back to Elizabeth’s body, and sees the creature standing in the window, grinning and pointing at Elizabeth’s corpse. Victor fires his gun at the creature, but misses, and the creature escapes.

Thereafter Victor pledges to hunt the creature down. Following clues, Victor heads north. As he travels, the weather grows ever colder and more wintry, and civilization disappears amidst the frozen wastes. At length, starving and frail, Victor collapses in the snow, is found and carried to a cabin in the woods, where he dies. His would-be rescuers leave the room briefly, and when they return they see the creature, hovering over Victor’s body and howling in grief. The creature flees the house and is not seen again.

Critical reception

The “Frankenstein” program from the Radio Tales series has received favorable reviews. In reviewing the series’ production of Frankenstein, AudioFile Magazine wrote, “Mary Shelley’s classic tale of science gone awry is adapted for radio by Winnie Waldron, whose abridgment focuses on Victor Frankenstein’s obsession with death and creation. With Winifred Phillips’s Gothic-style musical score and gently emotional reading, Frankenstein is a fresh and captivating listening experience.” [Steven E. Steinbock: "Reviews: Classics". AudioFile Magazine, pg. 51, April/May 2000, Vol. 8, No. 6.]

References

External links

* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=578&ProductCategoryId=59 Frankenstein Streaming Audio Excerpts on Audioville.co.uk]
* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales® Full Series - Streaming Audio Excerpts]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]