As you probably have heard, the most hyped theater event of the year in the UK is the production of Hamlet currently at the Barbican in London, with the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch, no doubt Britain’s biggest acting star today, in the lead role. Though all have praised Cumberbatch’s performance, the production has greatly divided critics, some demolishing it utterly (for instance The Guardian‘s Michael Billington: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/25/hamlet-barbican-review-benedict-cumberbatch-imprisoned-prince), others finding it refreshing and powerful (such as New Statesman‘s Helen Lewis: http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/08/benedict-cumberbatchs-hamlet-vast-sweeping-production-low-key-leading-man).

Interestingly for us, however, Cumberbatch’s previous, most talked-about performance on the stage dated back to 2011, in an adaptation of – you guessed it – Frankenstein! The production in question was directed by well-known British filmmaker Danny Boyle at London’s National Theater, in which Boyle made the intriguing choice of alternating Cumberbatch and his co-star Jonny Lee Miller in the two lead roles every other night, emphasizing the doubling between Frankenstein and his creature, so that every other night they should be made to ‘re-inhabit each other’ on stage. See pictures of the show here: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2011/feb/25/frankenstein-danny-boyle-national-theatre

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