John M. Silah

631 East Bank Street, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 54935-2853, # (920) 923-1918,  jsilah@fdlct.com

"Frankenstein, a Gothic Romance"

The story that has fired our imaginations for 185 years is now retold for a new era.

A dramatic play written by John Silah

Adapted from the original 1818 gothic romance novel, “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus,”

written by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley

Early reviews of the script

     “A well-written, terrific play that grabbed me.  I couldn’t put it down, wondering what was going to happen next.”

- S. Loraine “Lorrie” Hull Smithers, Ph.D., Author of "The Method" video & book 

and Co-Director with Dianne Hull of Hull Actors Studio in Santa Monica, CA

    “…absolutely love it!  It seems to have a little bit of everything - drama, comedy, romance - not to mention history…”

- Heather Reader, "Frankenstein" Assistant Director and 

Marian College History Education Student

    "I am impressed.  ...a terrific job."

Lori Garbisch, UW-FdL Graduate

    Copyright:  The original novel, on which this play is loosely based, is in the public domain.  However, this particular script is copyrighted by its author, John Silah.  Anyone wishing to produce this play should contact Mr. Silah.  The play is currently available for production anywhere.  The play is priced as follows:

    Staging notes:  There is another page on this web site which delineates all of the production details needed to produce this play.  It lists notes in eighteen categories: Authors, Calendar/Schedule, Cast, Copyrights, Costumes, Furniture, Historical Facts, Lighting, Make-up, Music, Other Frankensteins, Production Staff, Props, Publicity, Set Decorations, Set Description, Special Effects and The Story.  Click on this Staging link to get to that page.

    The Cast and the Production Staff, as it is recruited, are all listed on the page for the play.  Follow this link, "Frankenstein, a Gothic Romance," to get to that page.

   * "Mrs. Frankenstein":  There are two women in this play who can be called “Mrs. Frankenstein.”  Mrs. Caroline Frankenstein is Victor’s mother, and Mrs. Elizabeth Frankenstein is Victor’s wife.  To avoid confusion Victor's wife is always called “Elizabeth,” and Victor’s mother is always called “mother” or “Mrs. Frankenstein.”

    Setting: The entire play is set in just one large room, with a pair of French doors that lead to a courtyard, and one side door.  The room is a guesthouse which Victor Frankenstein has converted into his medical office and then, later on, into his scientific laboratory as well.  It is located in London, England.

   Scene Titles:  There are ten scenes; six in the first act and four in the second act.  Each scene has been given its own title.  This is reminiscent of, and an homage to, the old-fashioned chapterplays.  They also help everyone to keep track of the different scenes.  To get directly to any particular scene, click on the title in the Synopsis below.

Act One, Scene One   “Two Arrivals”   Year: 1818, daytime   Place:  London, England

   Doctor Victor Frankenstein is working at his desk in his office, which is a guesthouse that Victor has converted into a clinic for his medical practice.  It is one large room.  An office area is at stage right.  There is a side door at stage right that leads to a separate Examination Room.

    At curtain rise, Victor is alone in his office, seated at his desk.  He is reading a newspaper.  We hear the sound of horses.  Elizabeth enters.  She is excited and obviously pregnant.

Elizabeth:   (excited)  Victor, your mother has arrived from Switzerland!

Victor:         (Distractedly, without looking up from his newspaper)  Hmmm?

Elizabeth:   Victor?  Did you hear me?

Victor:         What’s that?  (Victor now looks up from the paper and notices that Elizabeth is in the room.)  Oh, Elizabeth.

    He looks back to the paper and continues reading.

Elizabeth:   Buried in your work as usual, I see.

Victor:        The newspaper has the most astonishing news.  This fellow, Charles Darwin, has made the most extraordinary discovery.  It says here that he had a piece of a worm in a glass case, and that it has miraculously come back to life.

Elizabeth:    A worm?

Victor:        (Referring back to the paper)  Yes, a vermicelli, I believe it was.

Elizabeth:   Well, that is good news…for fishermen.  Or perhaps for birds who want a fresh meal.

Victor:        No, no, don’t you understand?  It may be possible to bring animals back from the dead!  Perhaps one day even people!

Elizabeth:        Bring people back from the dead?  Oh, Victor, please do not speak of such things.  You will give me nightmares.  I want to think only good thoughts when I give birth.

    Victor crosses to Elizabeth.

Victor:        Oh, yes, of course, darling.  I am sorry.  I do not want you to worry about a thing.  We are going to have a fine, healthy son.

Elizabeth:   Or daughter.

Victor:    I am the doctor, and I am predicting a son.  (Elizabeth frowns and Victor sees it.)  Of course, if we have a daughter, I will not mind a bit, as long as she is as beautiful and charming as you are.  (They embrace.)

Elizabeth:   Well, if I am so beautiful and charming, why are you more interested in that newspaper than in me?

Victor:    I am not.  (He abruptly breaks off their embrace and crosses back to his newspaper.)  But this news may have vast implications for my work.

    Victor looks at the paper and immediately gets caught up in reading it again.  Elizabeth crosses her arms and shakes her head, smiling at his enthusiasm.  Victor’s mother enters through the French doors.  She sees Elizabeth and Victor, who is still reading the newspaper, and has not noticed that she has entered.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Victor, is your work more important than your own mother?

Victor:    (Hearing his mother’s voice, he looks up.)  Mother!  Elizabeth, why didn’t you tell me that my mother had arrived?  (Elizabeth puts her hands on her hips and opens her mouth in a silent gasp of exasperation as Victor crosses to his mother.  Victor and his mother embrace warmly.)  Mother, it is so good to see you.  I have missed you.  

Mrs. Frankenstein:    (Gently scolding)  And yet you do not even notice when I arrive.

Victor:   I am sorry, mother.  You know how focused I get on my work.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Well you may not notice me, buried in your work as usual, but Elizabeth is going to need my help with the baby.  (To Elizabeth)  Elizabeth, when you give birth, Victor may be too busy to notice.

Elizabeth:    (To Mrs. Frankenstein, but spoken while looking at Victor)  I find ways to get his attention.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    It is good to see you, Victor.  I've missed you, too.  I must admit, I did get a bit lonely, living alone in Switzerland.  It is good of you to take in an old lady like me.

Victor:    Take you in?  Yes, and immediately put you to work helping Elizabeth.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Being of some use again and helping with my new grandchild will be the joy of my life.

Elizabeth:    It is wonderful of you to come.  It's been so long since we've seen you.  How was your trip?

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Long and hard.  It takes a long time to get here from Switzerland.  (To Victor)  This, I presume, is your medical office.

Victor:    Yes, I converted the guesthouse.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Well, it looks functional enough, but it could use a woman's touch.  Not enough sunlight, not many decorations, not even a plant to give the room some life.  Do you save patients here, Victor, or bore them to death?

Elizabeth:    We do so appreciate your coming, mother.  (Elizabeth puts her hands on her stomach, reacting to an odd feeling she is having.)  You may be just in time.  Our baby is due any time now.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Well,  then there will be some life in here after all.

    Elizabeth starts to cross to Mrs. Frankenstein, but stops and reacts again.

Elizabeth:    I…  Oh!  (Something is happening to her; she is having a contraction.)  Victor?

Victor:   (Still facing his mother, and not yet realizing that something may be happening to Elizabeth)  Yes, dear?

Mrs. Frankenstein:    (To Elizabeth)  I told you he wouldn’t notice.

    She brushes past Victor and crosses to Elizabeth.

Victor:   (Still slightly absently)  Wouldn’t notice what?  (He turns, watching his mother cross until she reaches Elizabeth.  Then he sees the look on Elizabeth’s face, and realizes that something is happening to her.)  Elizabeth!  It can’t be time already!

Elizabeth:    Well, you are the doctor, dear, but I am the mother, and I believe it is time.

    Victor and his mother help Elizabeth onto the bed.

Blackout

Act One, Scene Two        “Nightmare or Premonition”        Time: That night

           Production note:  There may be some eerie, foreboding music in the background during the dream sequence portion of this scene.

            Lights fade up dimly, with a slightly yellowish hue, on the bed only.  The portion of the sky visible through the French Doors' windows is totally black, without any visible stars, clouds or moon.  Everything else inside the room is also as dark as possible, to the extent that the audience may not be able to make out the room itself at all.  Even the fireplace is dark.  All of this adds to a disconnected effect, emphasizing that this scene is not a part of the play’s reality.

    Elizabeth is lying on the bed.  She is no longer pregnant.  She is alone.  Her eyes are closed.  After a moment, she begins to occasionally move her head from side to side, which indicates that she is sleeping and having a nightmare.  This side-to-side head movement starts out slowly, but gets progressively faster and more pronounced as the scene progresses.

    Outside, in the courtyard behind the French doors, there is a dim, greenish backlight and drifting fog (an optional special effect.)  The fog will be tinted greenish by the green lights, giving it an unreal, dream-like or otherworldly look.

    A large figure walks into view, silhouetted by the backlight.  His walk is uncertain, somewhat lumbering (but not stiff-legged, and not with arms stretched out in front of him, as in the movies).  All of his movements are as though in slow motion, which gives it a dream-like quality.  From the outside, he sees Elizabeth through the French doors.  He turns toward the doors and crosses to them.  He opens the doors.  He enters through the doorway.  He slowly crosses toward the bed.

    Elizabeth, eyes still closed, moves her head fitfully from side to side a little faster.  At some point, as the figure approaches the bed, he walks into a dim, greenish front light and pauses for a moment, which allows us to get a good look at his face.

    It is William, but a grown-up William that we will meet later.  Although he would be difficult to recognize even if we had met him before.  His face is heavily scarred, stitched in a criss-cross pattern, as if his face were sewn together from several pieces.  The effect is ugly, and frightening.

    He crosses to the edge of the bed.  Elizabeth still has her eyes closed, but her movements are a bit more violent now, as if she is struggling, but something is restraining her, keeping her from getting away.  Or as though she is trying to awaken, but cannot.

    The patchwork-faced creature reaches out to her, now with an angry grimace on his face.  Both of his hands move to her neck.  Her side-to-side movements become even faster as she struggles.  Just as his fingers touch her neck, she screams and the music fades out.  The stage lights fade out quickly, all at once, creating a total Blackout, but her scream continues for a moment into the blackness.

    After a couple of seconds, the room lights fade up.  Victor is there, at the French doors, his hand on the wall gas-control key, having just turned up the room lights.

    The creature is gone.  The fog has dissipated.  It is still night, but the greenish light is gone, leaving just the normal room light.  Stars may now be visible on the cyc wall.  The fireplace is now lit.  If there is a cityscape of 1818 London beyond the courtyard, its windows are now lit as well.  All of these changes indicate that we are now back to reality.

Victor:   Elizabeth!  (He quickly crosses to the bed.)  What is it?  Are you all right?

    Elizabeth is now awake, and she is visibly shaken.  She sits up, anxiously looks around the room for the creature, and feels her own neck as if to check that it is okay.  Victor puts his arms around her, and she holds onto them.

Elizabeth:   Victor!  Oh, Victor, I just had the most horrible vision.

Victor:   There, there.  You were sleeping when I left.  It must have been a dream.  A nightmare.  It’s all over now.

Elizabeth:   But it was so real.  (Still checking around the room)  There was this horrible creature.  A hideous thing.  He looked as if he were stitched together from pieces, like some monstrous quilt.  He strangled me!  He killed me!

Victor:   No, I don’t think so.  You’re not dead; you’re all right.  Be calm, dear.

Elizabeth:    I think it was a…a premonition.  A vision of the future.

Victor:   How could it be a premonition?  Creatures such as that do not exist.

Elizabeth:   Oh, I do hope you are right.  How is our new baby?

Victor:   Little William is with my mother, but I think your scream must have awakened him.  I heard him crying.  He needs his own mother.  I could bring him here.  Or do you feel well enough now to move to the main house?

Elizabeth:   (She takes a deep breath.)  Yes, I think I do.  I do not want to be alone here.

Victor:   You look well enough, but we will take it slow.  Let's go see our new son.

   Elizabeth, with Victor’s help, slowly starts to get up.

Blackout

Act One, Scene Three           “A Death”        Time: Twelve years later, in 1830

    Victor is working at his desk again.  Elizabeth and young William, who is now twelve years old, enter through the French doors.  Elizabeth is carrying a small potted plant.  As usual, Victor is so intent on his work that does not seem to notice.  Elizabeth crosses to the fireplace and places the plant on the mantle.

Victor:    (Glancing up at Elizabeth)  Trying to brighten-up my drab office?

Elizabeth:    I just thought that a plant would bring some life in here.

    Victor stands up and crosses to Elizabeth.

Victor:   You bring life in here, my dear, just by your presence.

    They embrace.  William has become bored and begins to play.  He is running around the room, pretending to be an animal.

Elizabeth:   (Without looking away from Victor)  William, I have told you: you are not to play in your father’s office.

Victor:   (Without looking away from Elizabeth)  William?

William:   (Still playing)  Yes, father?

Victor:   (Still not looking away)  Are you playing in my office?

William:   (Still playing)  No, father.

Victor:   (At that, Victor turns to look at William.)  William!  (William suddenly stops playing.)  What have I told you about not telling the truth?  Do you know right from wrong?

William:   Yes, father.

    As part of his response, William silently acts out the “monkey” sequence.  He raises his arms and puts one hand over each eye, then he puts one hand over each ear, and finally he puts both hands over his mouth.

Victor:   (Crossing to William and laughing)  What is that?

    William goes through the same pantomime sequence again, but this time he explains each movement as he does it.

William:   See no evil.  Hear no evil.  Speak no evil.

Victor:   Ah!  Of course!  (He crosses to William and embraces him.)  That’s my boy!  (To Elizabeth)  You have taught him well, my darling.  (Victor crosses back to Elizabeth and takes her hands in his.)  You are such a good mother.  And not a bad wife, either.

Elizabeth:   You mean, in comparison to all your other wives?

Victor:   Ah, but try as I might, I could never find another wife to compare to you.  Besides, when would I have time for another wife?  With all the time it has taken to build up my medical practice, I have not spent enough time with you.

Elizabeth:   And don’t think I haven’t noticed.  But, yes, William is a good boy.  He has a good father, too.  When he has a father.  (To William)  But now, William, you must leave your father alone.  He has work to do.  (William makes a sad face.)  (To Victor, as she crosses to William)  Darling, your next patient is waiting.

Victor:   (Victor returns to his desk.)  Very well.  Send him in.  (Elizabeth and William exit through the French doors.  As she exits, Elizabeth holds the door open for Victor’s mother, who enters.  Elizabeth and William cross through the courtyard and exit in the direction of the main house.  Hearing the doors close, Victor looks up.)  Mother!  What is it, mother?  Are you ill?

    Victor stands and crosses to his mother.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    I don’t know, Victor.  I have not been feeling at all well lately.  I am tired.  I get dizzy and short of breath.  I am just too old.

    Victor helps his mother to a chair, where she sits.

Victor:   You should not speak like that, mother.  Do not worry.  I will take care of you.

    Victor looks into each of her eyes and then carefully studies her face.  He takes her wrist and times her heartbeat rate with his pocket watch.  Then he goes to his medicine shelf and searches through the bottles for a particular medicine.  Mrs. Frankenstein continues talking while he is working.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    You are a good son, Victor, and an extraordinary doctor.  But, even you cannot keep people alive forever.  I have lived my life.  I have lived to see you find a wonderful wife, and to establish a successful medical practice.  You have even given me a grandson in my old age.  William is old enough now that Elizabeth can take care of him, and you, by herself.  Elizabeth really is wonderful.  She is much too good for you, you know.

Victor:   Thank you, mother.  You know, she believes that, too.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Well, we are both right.  You are lucky to have her.

Victor:   I am lucky to have both of you.

Mrs. Frankenstein:    Anyway, I am satisfied with my life.

Victor:   (Finding the bottle he was looking for)  Here it is.  This may help.  Let me record it in my journal.  (He writes an entry into his journal.)  I have a smaller bottle in the other room, so you can take some back to the house.

    He exits into the other room to get a smaller bottle.  While he is gone, Mrs. Frankenstein winces in pain, puts her hand to her heart and collapses on the chair.  She dies.  Victor enters and sees his mother.  He runs to her side.

Victor:   Mother?  (He takes her wrist to feel for her heartbeat, but the shocked expression on his face tells us that he cannot find one.)  Mother!

Blackout

Act One, Scene Four               “The Pact”           Time: A few days later

    Victor is wearing black clothing, or at least a black armband over his white lab coat.  He is devastated by his mother’s death, and it has changed his demeanor.  He is now often stern, and occasionally he seems to border on anger.  He and his friend, Henry Clerval, are talking in his office.

Victor:    Thank you for your help with my mother's funeral arrangements, Henry.

Henry:   No, no, don't mention it.  It was the least I could do.  Your mother was so kind; she was like a mother to me as well.  It was so nice that she was able to spend the last few years with you here in England.

Victor:    Yes, it was.  I noticed that you were with some other people at the funeral.

Henry:    Yes, my friends, Robert Walton and his young sister, Margaret.  I've talked about you so often that Robert wanted to meet you.  That's why Elizabeth invited them over today.  They are at the main house now, talking with Elizabeth.  I told Robert that he could come over here to meet you in your office.  Meeting new people might cheer you up.  I can see that your mother's death has affected you deeply.

Victor:   Yes, even more than I thought.  It has made me realize what I must do.

Henry:    Do?

    Victor stands up and crosses toward the center of the room, facing away from Henry, angling towards the audience.

Victor:   Henry, you are my oldest and dearest friend, but still I hesitate to tell you what I am planning.

Henry:   Victor, we have known each other since childhood.  You should know by now that you can confide in me about anything.

    Victor turns to face Henry.

Victor:   I appreciate that, Henry.  I have always valued your friendship and your wise counsel.  Very well.  (Victor crosses back to his place behind his desk, but does not sit down.)  I am resuming my experiments in my attempt to reanimate dead tissue.  I will continue my medical practice during the day, of course, but I must work on my experiments in my spare time.

    Henry stands up abruptly, reacting to this news with surprise.

Henry:   Are you sure you want to do that, Victor?  Morbid experiments on dead body parts!  They shocked the faculty at the University of Ingolstadt.  They expelled you because of them, didn’t they?

Victor:   Henry, death has taken my mother away from me, and I could not stop it.  With all my knowledge, with all my supposed brilliance, I could not stop it.

Henry:   Victor, you must not torture yourself.  No one could have stopped it.

Victor:   That is my point exactly.  Mankind continues to be defeated by death.  How long must we endure it?  How can I not fight against it?  After all, what is the purpose of medicine?  What is the purpose of science?  It is to conquer nature, is it not?

Henry:    (begins pacing, crossing to the center of the room as he thinks, then turns back to Victor)  I can see that you are determined.  I know you well enough to know that I cannot talk you out of it.  (crosses back to Victor)  Well, all right then.  I have always supported your work.  I will help you.

Victor:   I appreciate your support, Henry.  I do not think I can do this all alone.  We will be pushing the boundaries of medical science into unknown territory.

Henry:   (begins pacing again)  Yes, but I am a student of languages and humanities, not medicine or science.  Say, Robert is a student of science.  Perhaps he could help you.  We could ask him when he gets here.  He should be coming...  (At this point, Henry is standing near the French doors.  He looks out through the doors and sees Robert crossing through the courtyard toward the office.)  Yes, here he comes now.

    Henry stands up, crosses to the French doors, and opens a door for Robert.  Robert enters.

Henry:   Come in, Robert.  I want you to meet my friend, Doctor Victor Frankenstein.

    Robert crosses to the desk and extends his hand to Victor.

Robert:   Doctor Frankenstein, it is an honor to meet you, sir.  (Shaking hands with Victor)  Henry has told me so much about you.

Victor:   How do you do, Robert?

Robert:    Please accept my sympathy on the passing of your mother.

Victor:   Thank you, Robert.  (Victor gestures to the chairs in front of his desk.)  Please sit down.  Henry was just telling me about you.  I understand that you are a scientist.

    Robert sits in one of the desk chairs, Henry sits in the other, and Victor sits at his usual place behind his desk.

Robert:   Merely a student of science.  And a self-taught student at that.

Henry:   I was just telling Victor that you might be interested in helping him with his work.  Victor wants to resume his old experiments concerning the reanimation of life.

    Robert stands up and looks down at Henry.

Robert:   Henry, I wish you hadn’t spoken for me.  (Henry reacts with surprise.  Robert turns away from Henry and Victor, and crosses a few steps toward the center of the room.)  Without speaking to me first, at any rate.

Henry:   Oh, sorry, Robert.  I hope I hadn’t spoken out of place.

Victor:   You have misgivings about my work.

Robert:   Yes, Doctor Frankenstein, in fact I do.  May I be perfectly candid with you?

Victor:   Yes, please do.  Scientists are always looking for the truth.

    Robert turns back toward Victor and crosses back to the desk, where he stands over Victor, looking down on him.

Robert:   Well then, to be truthful, I do not approve of that work.  (Robert turns away from Victor.  As he speaks, Robert paces, crossing away from Victor)  Henry tells me that you have performed experiments that were, shall we say, rather unorthodox, to say the least.  Attempting to revive dead tissue?  Trying to bring the dead back to life?  It all sounds highly unlikely and, to be honest, downright bizarre.

Victor:   Yes, most people would think so.  But I am not the first to work with cadavers.  After all, that is the only way that we can learn about such things.  Let me ask you something.  Why do you bother to study science, if you are afraid to follow it through to its conclusion?

Robert:   (By now, Robert is across the room from Victor.  He turns back to face Victor)  Conclusion?

   Victor stands up and faces Robert.

Victor:   (picking up a book from his desk)  Yes, mankind is developing science for one purpose: to learn how to control his surroundings.  To tame nature.  To master his world.

    During the next few lines, Robert and Victor each take a step toward each other as they start speaking their lines, so that by the end of their debate they are standing next to each other, face to face.

Robert:   (taking one step forward, toward Victor)  Most people say that such mastery is the province of the Divine.

Victor:   (taking one step forward, toward Robert)  I say that God gave us a brain so that we can use it to unlock His secrets.  To determine our own destiny.  And so that we do not have to be victimized by death.  Or at least not so soon.

Robert:   (taking another step forward)  Some say that God put a limit on our life span, so that we may join Him in heaven that much sooner.

Henry:   God has been around for an eternity.  I doubt that he is impatient about it.  He will see us all sooner or later, anyway.  Well, those of us that make it up there, at least.  (He points a finger upward.)

Victor:   (taking another step forward)  Suppose He imposed those limits to challenge us.  To test us.  To see if we are worthy of the brain He gave us.  To see if we are worthy of joining Him in the hereafter.  I believe that we are intended to work to better ourselves, using the gifts that He gave us.

Robert:   (taking another step forward)  God gave us His Commandments to put limits on us.

Victor:   (taking another step forward)  Ah, yes, but there is no Commandment against science.

Robert:   That is true.  You make some very good points.  I must admit that I am intrigued.

Victor:   And you are a good debater.  I suspect it would be stimulating to work with you.  If you wish to work with me.  Or would you rather just stick to learning from books?  (Victor hands the book to Robert.)

Henry:   You would learn more here, Robert, from Victor.

Victor:   Together we could write the book - on the science of life.

Robert:   I have never written a book before.

Victor:   Always the observer, never the achiever?

Robert:   I do tire of only reading.  I still have some misgivings, but perhaps it is time to act.  (Robert hands the book back to Victor.)

    Henry takes a bottle down from a shelf, along with three glasses, and fills each one.

Henry:   You have convinced me, Victor.  Well, Robert, do we play the hand that we are dealt?  Or do we reshuffle the deck?  Or as Victor put it; do we accept the challenge to use God’s gifts to improve ourselves?

    Henry raises his glass in a toast, and looks at Robert, waiting to see if he will do the same.  Victor takes his glass and raises it alongside of Henry’s.  Robert looks at each man, pauses for a beat, then picks up his glass and raises it up to toast with the others.

Robert:   I may regret this, but I must see it through, if only out of curiosity to see where it leads.

Victor:   Scientific curiosity is a good start, Robert.  But only a beginning.  If we make this pact, we must follow it through to its conclusion.  Are we all agreed?

Henry:    Agreed.

Robert:     (Robert hesitates.)  Well, I suppose there is no sense in starting something unless one intends to finish it.  All right then, agreed.

Victor:    A toast, then.  To accepting the challenge.

Robert and Henry:    To accepting the challenge.

    They all toast each other, clinking their glasses together.  Victor and Henry take a drink.

Victor:   Then, let us celebrate our collaboration.  Come up to the main house with me.  Elizabeth has prepared a fine dinner for us.  We have much to talk about.  Our great journey is beginning.

    Victor and Henry take their glasses and exit through the French doors, crossing toward the main house.  Robert stays in the room, turns away from them, angling towards the audience, and speaks to himself.

Robert:   All this talk of God.  I just pray that I am not making a bargain with the devil.

    He sighs, looks down at the glass in his hand.  Then he takes a drink.  He turns toward the others and exits through the doors to follow them to the house.  Henry and Victor have stopped in the courtyard and looked back to see where Robert is.  They wait as he comes through the doors and then all three exit toward the house together.

Blackout

Act I, Scene Five                        “The Injury”       Time: Six years later, in 1836

    Part of Victor’s medical office has been converted into a scientific laboratory.  At stage right are the same desk and chairs, and at center stage is the bed, all as before.  But now, at stage left there is a wooden workbench.  Next to that is a small table, which contains scientific equipment.

Victor is working at his desk as usual.  Henry is sitting in a chair in front on the desk, reading.  Robert is standing at the bookcase, paging through one of the books, looking for something.  Another man, Michael, is pounding the final nail into the workbench with his smith’s hammer.  During the next conversation, he checks his work, gathers up his tools and puts them into his wooden toolbox.

Michael:   There you are, sir.  It’s all finished.  (He slaps his hand on the top of the bench.)  Here’s your new workbench.

    Robert crosses to the workbench and looks it over, pressing down on it to test its ability to hold weight, and then grasping a side and wriggling it to test its stability.

Robert:   A fine job, Michael.

    Robert begins moving the scientific equipment from the table onto the newly completed workbench.

Michael:   Me an’ Enoch can build ‘most anything.

Robert:   Enoch?  (Robert looks around to see who else may be there with Michael.)  Who is Enoch?

Michael:    (Holding up his heavy hammer)  Enoch is me smith’s hammer.

Henry:    (Looking up from his book)  You named your hammer?

Michael:   We all calls our heavy hammers “Enoch.”  It’s after Enoch Taylor, the bloke what invented ‘em.

Victor:   Thank you, Michael.  (Victor hands Michael some money for his work.)  You and Enoch may go now.

Michael:   Thank you, sir.

    Michael looks puzzled at the strange scientific equipment that Robert is putting onto the new workbench.  Then he shrugs, picks up his wooden toolbox, and exits through the French doors.

Victor:   Robert, I am now convinced that there is a definite relationship between the human body and electricity.  We know that electricity stimulates movement, even in dead muscle tissue.  I would not be surprised if electricity is somehow involved in the very process of life itself.

    Robert gestures to a wire that is hanging down from the ceiling.  It is touching the bed.

Robert:   Is that why you hung this wire in here?

    Robert grasps the wire to examine it.

Victor:   Yes.  I attached it to a lightning rod on the roof.  (Robert instantly releases the wire, quickly pulling his hand away from it.  He looks up the wire, his eyes following it up to the ceiling.)  I may use it to try to stimulate a body.  It may literally spark the life process.  We must make sure that we put that wire somewhere safe for now, in case there is a storm.