Hollywood Director James Whale did not set out to make horror films. A successful stage director, he was called to Hollywood and offered a choice of various projects on the studio’s roster. He selected “Frankenstein” because it was different from anything he’d done before. Whale embraced the project with enthusiasm, and it was a surprise success. He followed that up with “The Bride of Frankenstein,” which successfully combined horror and humor. It is regarded by many as a masterpiece. Then came my personal favorite, “The Invisible Man,” starring Claude Rains in a memorable if largely unseen performance. It sends chills up the spine but has no shortage of laughs. Whale went on to direct “Show Boat,” one of the few films of the early 1930s to feature Black actors in serious dramatic roles, most notably Paul Robeson.
Many scholars have remarked on this strange collection that combines horror, comedy, spirituality, and politics in a way that sometimes looks like genius. But Whale’s career never took off in the 1940s and 1950s. Many believe the explanation to be his insistence on living openly as a happy homosexual at a time when the moral reputation of the film industry was of great concern. A scandal could stop the goose from laying those golden eggs, and homosexuals had to live secret lives to keep working.
Novelist Christopher Bram saw an opportunity in Whale’s history to explore themes of hiding, monsters, dehumanization, racism, Queer sensibilities, justice, and accommodation. The result was “The Father of Frankenstein,” which inspired “Gods and Monsters,” a film that starred Ian McKellen as Whale.
Fans of the film will enjoy this production very much, as it has much of the film’s excellence while adding greater depth with themes culled from the novel.
Donald Currie, a long-standing pillar of Bay Area Queer theatre, really delivers the goods as James Whale. His performance is brittle and sensitive, touching and irritating, shocking and amusing, horrifying and hilarious. Which is to say, he captures Whale to a tee. As Whale’s caregiver and housekeeper, Francine Torres is also very good. Her character is complex, loving towards Whale but also homophobic. She adores him while certain he’s going to Hell. As the newly hired groundskeeper, Clayton Boone, Jason M. Blackwell provides both the necessary beefcake and rough-hewned intellect and sensitivity.
When Whale cleverly makes a play for Boone, convincing him to pose shirtless for a painting, one is forced to wonder: who is the God and who is the Monster? And also, why is the Monster so monstrous? Clayton, a Black man, after learning of Whale’s resume, goes home and watches “Frankenstein” for the first time. When he returns to discuss the film, he points out that Frankenstein is a perfect metaphor for a Black man in America: someone who is presumed by powerful foes to be monstrous by nature, but is really made in God’s image.
The relationship is developed in the context of Whale’s deteriorating mental state as he slips in and out of lucidity, the result of a neurological disease. He confuses fact and fiction, past and present, film and life, monsters and gods.
There are additional subplots involving Whale’s former lover, Hollywood parties, and the life history of the housekeeper. A particularly hilarious subplot involves a young writer, Edmund Kay (played with flamboyant abandon by Tyler Aguallo), who is seduced by Whale into a game of strip poker. Ryan Lee, as Whale’s former lover, rounds out the cast with a polished performance.
Director M. Graham Smith has a gift for capturing nuance, and he mines the script for all that it has to offer. The set design by Maya Linke is beautiful to look at and symbolically rich, featuring a wall with a fissure that suggests the duality of gods and monsters, as well as Whale’s collapsing cognition. Lighting and costumes (credit Justin A. Partier and Bethany Flores Deal) are subtle and effective.
“Gods and Monsters” plays at the New Conservatory Theatre Center through April 6, 2026. For further information click here.
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Rating: ****1/2 (For an explanation of TheatreStorm’s rating system, click here.)
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“Gods and Monsters” written and adapted by Tom Mullen. Based on the novel “Father of Frankenstein” by Christopher Bram. Director: M. Graham Smith. Assistant Director & Dramaturg: Saffron Quinn. Set Designer: Maya Linke. Props Designer: Jenna Forder. Lighting Designer: Justin A. Partier. Costume Designer: Bethany Flores Deal. Wig Designer: Laundra Tyme, Wigs by Tips. Fight Choreographer: Raise Donato. Intimacy Choreographer: Jeunée Simon.
Cast:
James Whale: Donald Currie. Clayton Boone: Jason M. Blackwell. David Lewis: Ryan Lee. Edmund Kay: Tyler Aguallo. Maria Ramirez: Francine Torres.
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