Frankenstein

N1: Long ago, in Germany, a young scientist had a dream. 

N2: He wanted to bring the dead back to life. 

N3: This man was Victor Frankenstein.

N1: For two years, Victor collected body parts—

N2: —legs, arms, hearts, eyeballs, and more.

N3: He stitched them together to make a creature. 

N1: And soon his life would never be the same . . .

N2: Victor stands in his laboratory. 

N3: On a table is the body of a man—8 feet tall. 

N1: Wind rattles the windows.

N2: Rain pounds the roof. 

Victor: Tonight, my creature will come to life! 

N3: There is a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder.

N1: Then the creature opens his eyes. 

N2: Victor jumps back, a look of disgust on his face. 

Victor: Your eyes are so yellow. Your skin is so pale. 

N3: The creature sits up. 

Creature: Aaaaarrrgh!

N1: The creature climbs off the table and tries to walk.  

Victor: You were supposed to be beautiful . . . but . . .

N2: There is another crash of thunder. 

Victor: You are the ugliest thing I have ever seen.

N3: The creature stumbles toward Victor. 

Victor: You are a monster! What have I done? 

N1: Victor runs from the room.

N2: The creature wanders into a small village. 

N3: He lumbers over to a group of people. 

Villager 1: Aaaaaah! Run!

Villager 2: Get away, you ugly thing!

N1: Everywhere the creature goes, people are scared by him. 

N2: Finally, he finds a small shack and crawls inside. 

N3: Through a hole in the wall, he can see into the window of the house next door. 

N1: A blind man lives there with his two grown children. 

N2: Day after day, the creature watches the family. 

N3: He learns to speak by listening to them.

De Lacey: Agatha, could you put another log on the fire, please? 

Agatha: Of course, Father. 

Creature (quietly): Fah-thurrr. 

N1: He secretly does them favors. 

N2: Agatha opens the front door to find a pile of chopped wood. 

Agatha: Felix, what a grand pile of firewood!

Felix: I didn’t chop that. 

Agatha: Then who did? 

De Lacey: It must be our guardian angel. 

Creature: Gar-dee-uhn ayn-jell.

N3: Months go by.

N1: The creature wants to be friends with the De Laceys.

Creature (to himself): The old man cannot see me. Maybe he will not hate me.  

N2: One day, Mr. De Lacey is home alone.

N3: The creature knocks on the door. 

De Lacey: Who’s there?

Creature: A traveler in need of rest.

De Lacey: Please, come and sit by the fire. What brings you here?

Creature: I am visiting some people who have never met me in person. I am worried.

De Lacey: About what? 

Creature: What if they don’t like me? 

De Lacey: Sometimes people judge you before they know you. 

Creature: People only see what I look like. I wish they could see that I am kind.

De Lacey: You sound like a very nice person. 

N1: Just then, Felix and Agatha arrive home. 

Agatha: Aaaaaagh!  

Felix: Get away from my father, you monster!

N2: Felix hits the creature with a stick. 

N3: The creature runs away into the woods. 

N1: He sinks to his knees. 

Creature: Am I not human?

N2: Months later, Victor is at his family’s home.

N3: He sits with his father and his fiancée, Elizabeth. 

Father: Victor, I have terrible news. Your little brother, William, is dead.

N1: Tears stream down Father’s face. 

Victor: What? How? 

Elizabeth: He wandered off one evening. Later, he was found strangled.

Victor: Who would do such a thing? 

N2: Suddenly, the creature’s face appears in the window. Only Victor sees it. 

Victor: The eyes! The yellow eyes!

Father: Eyes? What eyes, Victor?

N3: Victor rushes to the window, but the face is gone. 

Victor: Poor William. Is it all my fault?

N1: Victor walks through the woods. 

Victor: I wanted to do good in the world. But I created a terrible evil. 

N2: Victor sees the creature coming toward him. 

Victor: Did you kill my brother? 

Creature: I wanted a friend. I thought a child might not care what I look like. 

Victor: And?

Creature: He called me a monster. I got angry and . . . 

Victor: You are an evil monster!

Creature: Because the whole world hates me! 

Victor: You are a mistake!

Creature: You made me. Do I not deserve to be happy? 

Victor: What do you want?  

Creature: I want you to make me a friend—someone as ugly as I am. 

Victor: I will not bring more evil into the world. 

Creature: If you make me a friend, we will live far away.

Victor: If you promise to leave humans alone forever, I will do it.

N3: Victor collects more body parts. 

N1: He goes to a small hut on a faraway island. 

N2: He sews the parts together. 

Victor: Am I making another mistake? 

N3: The creature appears in the doorway. 

N1: Victor thinks he sees an evil grin on his face. 

Victor: No! I won’t do it! I will not bring more horror into the world!

N2: Victor tears the new body to pieces. 

Creature: How dare you! You will be sorry.

N3: Weeks later, Victor and Elizabeth are at a small inn. 

N1: They’ve just been married. 

Elizabeth: Let’s celebrate!

N2: They hear a sound outside. 

Elizabeth: What was that?

Victor: Stay here. 

N3: Victor grabs a sword and leaves the room. 

N1: He walks slowly down the hallway. 

N2: Suddenly, he hears a scream. 

Elizabeth: Aaaaaaahhhhh!

N3: Victor bursts back into the room. 

N1: Elizabeth is dead. 

Victor: No. No. NOOOOO!!! 

N2: Victor looks up at the window. 

N3: The creature is there. 

Creature: If I can’t be happy, then neither will you!

Victor: I will destroy you! 

N1: The creature runs off. Victor goes after him.

N2: For months, Victor chases the creature over land and sea. 

N3: They travel so far north, they reach an ocean of ice. 

N1: Victor is growing weak. 

Victor: I . . . I must kill him. 

N2: Victor falls onto the ice. 

Victor: I fear I will die soon. 

N3: The creature appears above him. 

Victor: Why did you kill what I loved most?  

Creature: I only ever wanted one thing. And I never got it.

Victor: What was that?

Creature: Love.

N1: Victor takes his final breath and dies.

N2: The creature grabs Victor’s hand. 

Creature: Forgive me. The world fed me hate, and hate filled me up. 

N3: The water beneath them rumbles. 

N1: The ice splits and cracks. 

N2: The creature stands next to Victor’s lifeless body. 

Creature: My life has been nothing but pain. When will it end? 

N3: He leaps onto a large piece of ice . . . 

N1: . . . and drifts off into the frozen darkness.