Early 19th Century Theatrical Productions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

  Early 19th Century Theatrical Productions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

(1) 1823 Playbill for Richard Brinsley Peake's Presumption: Fate of Frankenstein.

Frankenstein Early Productions     Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of literature in the science fiction genre of all time. With its publication in the nineteenth century came an influx of theatrical productions that would develop with the decades and round the character of Frankentstein's monster depicted in mainstream media as the big green creature we all know today. Looking into the roots of these depictions reveals where these ideas came from and even what Shelley herself thought of the productions at the time.   Presumption: Fate of Frankenstein     One of the first theatrical productions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was a play by Richard Brinsley Peake brought to the stage only 5 years after the novel's 1818 release (3). The play was not a direct retelling of the novel, rather an elaborate adaption that featured, for the first time, an evil sidekick (2). Shelley's novel was, at the time, already quite controversial. The play's interpretation of her work was not very well received, with warnings posted to playgoers against taking their families or friends to witness Peake's masterpiece. It's reported that "[a]s early as the first performance scattered protests could be heard" (2). The majority of protests and the mass displeasure that arose were rooted in unease that the story told of such unnatural conditions, with discussions of "a subject which in nature cannot occur" (2).  Protests against the play's production halted after a statement by Samuel James Arnold was published, encouraging the attendance of "fashionable" individuals and relaying that the licensing of the play would not have happened by the English Opera House had it been exceptionally immoral (2).  In a letter to Leigh Hunt, Mary Shelley herself reported that, after witnessing the production, she was "much amused" (2). The production was renewed annually until around 1840, marking itself as one of the most prominent early theatrical productions of Frankenstein.   The Demon of Switzerland and The Man and the Monster     The Demon of Switzerland was publicly showcased in 1823 and 1826. The play's author, Henry M. Milner, adapted the story twice in the span of those three years. The first production was entitled The Demon of Switzerland and was viewable at the Cobourg Theatre about a month after Peake's show debuted.      In 1826, Milner wrote and produced another play by the name of The Man and the Monster. The production tied together both Shelley's 1818 science-fiction tale and a French retelling by Jean-Toussaint Merle and Béraud Antony (or Le Monstre et le magicien) (3). This play is the first retelling of Frankenstein that actually imagines the life-bringing instruments used by Victor Frankenstein to animate his creature. In Peake's production, the experiment is enacted off-stage (4). This is now an essential feature in media adaptations of Shelley's novel. Illustration from 1826 Le Monstre et le Magicien (5). Le Monstre et le Magicien  Le Monstre et le Magicien, by Merle and Anthony, debuted in 1826 at the Paris Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. Thomas Potter Cooke, depicted in the illustration with blue skin and mussed hair, played the Creature in both this production and Peake's earlier stage adaptation, Presumption (6). This play was one of the earlier productions of Frankenstein that prioritized accuracy with also a touch of creative liberty. Defined as a "gothic melodrama" by Steven Earl Forry (7), the production influenced many of the theatrical stories that were to follow in the wake of the novel's increasing popularity. Early Frankenstein     Early productions of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein paved the way for further adaptations of science-fiction works. The current reception of Frankenstein in media is typically with inaccurate preconceptions of the "mad scientist" and his "monster," which are tropes that can be tied directly back to early on-stage showcases for dramatic appeal.   Works Cited

(1) “Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Feb. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption;_or,_the_Fate_of_Frankenstein#Mary_Shelley. 

(2) Forry, Steven Earl. “An Early Conflict Involving the Production of R. B. Peake’s Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein.” Theatre Notebook, vol. 39, 1985, pp. 99–103. 

(3) Curran, Stuart. “Plays of Frankenstein.” Plays of Frankenstein | Romantic Circles, 1 May 2009, romantic-circles.org/index.php/Editions/Article/plays-frankenstein. 

(4) Offord, Sabrina. “Frankenstein on Stage • V&A Blog.” V&A Blog, 25 July 2018, www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/frankenstein-on-stage?srsltid=AfmBOorl-A569jCZ-9tx48HUVYI7_WfV1C9QjfkjaaSMZdN8EzZwPiiT&doing_wp_cron=1774893322.8027780055999755859375. 

(5) Illustration from Le Monstre et Le Magicien: Mélodrame- ..., www.researchgate.net/figure/llustration-from-Le-Monstre-et-le-magicien-melodrame-feerie-en-3-actes-by-Antony-Beraud_fig1_348291669. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026. 

(6) New York Public Library. “ Scene from Le Monstre et Le Magicien.” Nypl.Org, www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/galleries/written-word/item/15427. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026. 

(7) Forry, Steven Earl. "Dramatizations of Frankenstein, 1821-1936: A Comprehensive List." English Language Notes, 25:2, 1987, 63-79.