A terrifying re-imagining of the night Mary Shelley became the mother of horror.
“… I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air.
The waves were dead and the clouds perished.
The world was void.
And men forgot their passions…
And all earth was but one thought – and that was death…”
– Darkness by Lord Byron
1816 – The Villa Diodati, Geneva, Switzerland.
Incessant darkness – nothing else. Then comes the thunder: heavy and foreboding. Then the lightning: bright, white and dangerous.
This is the notorious gathering of artistic rockstars, reimagined at their most wicked, burning bright and burning out. At the centre is 18-year-old Mary, consumed with conflict, her invincible perseverance overcomes all obstacles as she prepares to unleash something terrifying and claim it as her own. Surrounding her are the dangerous poet Lord Byron, wild and charming Percy Shelley, volatile and jealous stepsister Claire, and neurotic physician John Polidori.
When Byron dares them to write a ghost story, what follows is a descent into seduction, rivalry, and madness. Mary walks out with a legend, but at what cost?
Award-winning playwright Jess Sayer builds on the bones of history to re-imagine the events of the infamous night that birthed Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
The script was developed in collaboration with Oliver Driver—who brought you Amadeus—MARY is a bloody phantasmagoria like you’ve never seen before. Kill to get a ticket.
Mary – the Birth of Frankenstein
23 Aug – 7 Sept 2025
