Monster'd
By Paloma Oakenfold

Imagine waking up in a world where nothing makes sense; the body that you have is difficult to become acquainted with, and you can’t understand anything or anyone around you. This is the world that Aurelie (Aurelie Burton) wakes up to in Monster’d, a modern take on Mary Shelley’s classic story Frankenstein. Similarly to Frankenstein, the protagonist is created by a scientist, here otherwise known as The Creator (Kate Donnachie).

The Creator is shocked and amazed at first as she marvels at her creation, but is all too quick to reject Aurelie, sending her out into an unknown and frightening world with nothing but a copy of the works of Shakespeare.

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While Monster’d is an adaptation which stems from Frankenstein, it is told from the perspective of a young neurodivergent girl, exploring how she grows up in a world which she does not understand, and where no one understands her. Aurelie learns how to speak from reading Shakespeare’s writings, and therefore has trouble understanding and communicating with everyone else, as initially she only knows Shakespearean lines. She also speaks with a stammer, making it difficult for her to enunciate words, and while she is quick to understand everyone else, they have trouble understanding her. To really emphasise the world from Aurelie’s perception, everything about Monster’d is portrayed from a quite surreal standpoint.