FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

Revised by Andrew Dufresne

Outstanding rewrite, perversely macabre retelling of The Modern Prometheus paints Viktor Frankenstein as an ambitious dental assistant who assists a mad orthodontist named Igor (a welcome reversal of roles) in resurrecting the dead, failing repeatedly until they succeed wildly with raising a mean girl corpse named “Frankie.” Viktor and Igor become fearful parents to their monstrous child, hiding her in the bowels of a South Robertson medical building. Frankie rebels when she realizes her body is made up of stolen parts; her entitled teenage brain, however, transforms her into a ghastly monster. There’s an extraordinary classroom scene when a sympathetic Fairfax High teacher tries to help Frankie answer a basic geography question, and the teen corpse murders the instructor in a fit of rage. Frankie is tormented by her lack of memories and existential shame. One of the script’s many highlights is the corpse’s gentle nature, her deep longing for affection underneath the scarred exterior. Viktor, Igor, and the Monster come alive (alive!) on the page. The talk* is marvelous. Darkly compelling, Heathers meets Young Frankenstein, a Gothic popcorn movie for the masses.