Anonymous: A Tale of Mary Shelley

Beyond Class Activity: Academic

On Friday, September 13, 2024, at 7:00 pm, I attended the play “Anonymous: A Tale of Mary Shelley”. There was two reasons for my attendance. 1) My Effective Public Speaking Professor, Sean Ramey, was playing the Mary Shelley’s “Creature” and I wanted to support him as I know acting is his passion. 2) I really enjoy playwrights and theatre. The first every play I went to was a musical when I was 12, with my mum and aunt. They brought me to see Mamma Mia, as we all shared a love for the movie adaptation. I had the time of my life. When we walked out of the theatre afterwards, I couldn’t wipe the blinding smile off of my face. I’ve traveled to Broadway in NYC to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—a play I highly recommend—among others. The theatre for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was rebuilt specifically for that exact play, and the interior is gorgeous. (I’ve attached a photo below). So of course I wanted to attend this play put on at UNE. The play presents Shelley as a young woman who confronts both personal and artistic struggles. It showed the story of how Mary Shelley came about writing “Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus”, while also delving into themes of abandonment, loss, and self-discovery. The title “Anonymous” reflects the idea of authorship and recognition—how Mary Shelley, as a woman writer, initially published Frankenstein anonymously, a reflection of the societal constraints of the time. I think that the play often blurred the line between fiction and reality, but it’s use of poetic and dreamlike sequences to parallel Shelley’s life with the mythological tale of a character who loses their identity, and struggles to reclaim it—the “Creature”—was brilliant.