Review I, Victor, Golden Goose Theatre

A fascinating queer reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I, Victor is short and sharp at the Golden Goose Theatre

“I’ve been told I’ve got wildness in my eyes

In a world where even the acknowledgment of the right to exist is no guarantee for too many queer people, finding genuine connection with a lover feels more precious but at the same time, the sting of losing ‘the one’ can hit that much harder. And in some people, that grief can calcify into something extremely troubling.

Issy Flower’s I, Victor uses the prism of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to explore one such circumstance as Vic mourns the loss of her beloved Liz. But it is no simple retelling, it is a complete reconceptualisation that owes as much to Patrick Bateman as it does the Romantics, setting it very much in line with our enduring fascination with crime.

Katie Keet’s Vic is an enthralling storyteller. Full of charisma and confidence and an absolute conviction that she’s in the right, her sorrow gets covered by her swagger as she cuts a murderous swathe through the nightclubs of Geneva in pursuit of the pieces she believes will enable her to defeat death.

Jacob Freda’s lo-fi production makes great use of effective lighting choices and voiceover work to both expand and contract Vic’s world on this dark journey. And Keet’s performance revels in its Gothic darkness as it veers between camp and tragedy in a particular but also sometimes relatable tale of the construction of queer identites.

Running time: 45 minutes
I, Victor is booking at the Golden Goose Theatre until 4th August

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