For the Actors

7/31/2019 For the Actors

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ACT I

Scene 1

(Lights open on ROBERT sitting at desk with a recording device, and OLD VICTOR in achair)

ROBERT

It is December 29th 2026 at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, I am Dr.Robert Walton

interviewing Victor Frankenstein. Hello, Victor. I am Dr.Robert Walton. I am your psy-

chologist. I assume you know why you are here.

OLD Victor

I am in a mental institution, because I have been charged with being delusional and

have been convicted of murder.

ROBERT

Correct. Do you still claim that your statements were nothing but the truth of the events.

OLD VICTOR

I do.

ROBERT

That the murderer was a man made in a lab, and that he escaped and then killed those

people.

OLD VICTOR

Why are you so interested in me? I know that you sought out to arrange these therapy

sessions with me.


2/24

ROBERT

You are an enigma Victor. You were once a respected gene therapist and researcher.

And your consistency and self awareness also provides much interest.

OLD VICTOR

How so?

ROBERT

Most individuals afflicted with delusions, hallucinogenic experiences, or other psycho-

logical ailments will alter their stories without even knowing it. You however have re-

mained consistent throughout all of your reports.

OLD VICTOR

Truth is unyielding and constant. But I am sure you have looked over my story before,

why come to me?

ROBERT

I find that second hand information is not as revealing as personal interaction. So re-

count your tale Victor. Start from the beginning.

OLD VICTOR

I will Doctor. I will tell you the story of Frankenstein and his monster.

OLD VICTOR

As you said before I was once an accomplished Doctor and an expert on genetics. I

would advise couples on the possibilities of genetic diseases appearing in their off-

spring. It was good work, happy work, I was happy. But not content. But it changed

when he came in.


3/24

Scene 2

(Lights open to YOUNG VICTOR sitting and with a cup of coffee at a small table, the

scene should have suggested scenery)

(PANDORA enters off stage left holding a coffee cup and sits down opposite YOUNG

VICTOR)

Pandora

Ah, Dr.Frankenstein, I am glad you came.

YOUNG VICTOR

I got your employers message, they were quite insistent that I listen to their offer. What

is your name?

PANDORA

Pandora Thessyl

YOUNG VICTOR

Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Pandora.

PANDORA

Doctor. Let's move onto business. You have been renowned and praised for your theo-

ries, discoveries, and other work in genetics and genetic manipulation.

YOUNG VICTOR

Yes. I do realize my success.

PANDORA


4/24

We would like you to come be the head of our Prometheus project.

YOUNG VICTOR

While I am honored I must tell you that I am happy where I am right now.

PANDORA

I don't believe that Victor.

YOUNG VICTOR

Why not?

PANDORA

I've read your papers multiple times and I can tell that there is something special in you.

YOUNG VICTOR

What is that?

PANDORA

Your drive. The way you wrote those papers, the force of those words. You have pas-

sion. You want to do something extraordinary, you want to achieve greatness.

YOUNG VICTOR

It is true that I have always been fascinated by the possibilities of genetic engineering.

But what does Project Prometheus plan to do?

PANDORA


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Look at the world around you. You saw those people outside. Those frail sick people.

You can end that. You can stop sickness, weakness, greed, hunger, and all other banes

of man. You can usher in a new age of humanity. A golden age. A perfect age.

YOUNG VICTOR

But how?

PANDORA

By creating the perfect man. By artificially altering genetic information one could accom-

plish in a few years what would have taken evolution millenia. Think of it Victor. A perfect

world, all thanks to you.

YOUNG VICTOR

How can you promise me that?

PANDORA

You and I both know how frustrating the superficial and paranoid laws and regulations of

the world are. Rules made by those who do not understand, who are unable to compre-hend the possibilities of our work, who fear the ways of progress and advancement. We

are funded and composed of groups and individuals who are able to see above petty

constrictions and have the means and desires to accomplish what we want.

YOUNG VICTOR

And you want me to break the law? To assist you with this task?

PANDORA

Do not worry Victor, we have ways of concealing ourselves from our enemies. And when

we reveal ourselves to the world to show them what we have done for them, they will

hail us as heroes.


6/24

(She hands him a card and gets up)

PANDORA

Call us when you make up your mind.

(Walks off stage ,left with YOUNG VICTOR staring at her, then he looks at the card until

lights fade off)

Scene 3

(Back to OLD VICTOR and ROBERT at his office)

ROBERT

I assume that you called them.

OLD VICTOR

I did. The next day. I agreed to lead Project Prometheus.

ROBERT

So your goal was to create the perfect man?

OLD VICTOR

Yes. Imagine a human with the strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina of the most highly

trained athlete. Who would not succumb to injuries, who would be able to live off a sin-

gle meal for days. With augmented mental abilities the level of university professors.

And who would age to maturity in three years, yet they would live longer than any nor-

mal individual. That is what I set out to accomplish.

ROBERT

And you had always had a desire to accomplish something like this?


7/24

OLD VICTOR

Always. My entire life I had always sought to produce perfection. It drove me beyond my

peers and gave me the ability to accomplish all I desired. It only increased when I dis-covered that my wife Elizabeth and I would not be able to have children. I would now be

able to have a family with her. We would have our own child, I would be complete.

ROBERT

Did you succeed?

OLD VICTOR

It took two years but we did it. I was surprised by how rapid our progress had been.

Without restrictions to impede us and our sponsors' heavy aid we accomplished in that

time what would have taken us decades. We created a perfect specimen of man. He

was beautiful, perfect in every way.

Scene 4

(Lights open to YOUNG VICTOR and PANDORA at a suggested Lab. Both are wearinglab coats, and there is a table with papers scattered on it)

YOUNG VICTOR

Did you see his eyes?

PANDORA

What about them?

YOUNG VICTOR


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They were focused. Most babies don't focus on things when they leave their direct field

of vision, but he follows them. He remembers them he comprehends what is around

him. He is amazing!

PANDORA

There still is one more thing we have to do.

YOUNG VICTOR

What?

PANDORA

We have to name him.

YOUNG VICTOR

(Pause)

Adam. His name is Adam.

YOUNG VICTOR

Adam. The first man. The first of the new human race.

YOUNG VICTOR

A new beginning.

(Lights turn off)

Scene 5

(Back to ROBERTS office)


9/24

OLD VICTOR

He grew so fast. He learned so quickly. I saw him as a son, and he saw me as his fa-

ther. I was so happy. I had a family, and soon I would show Elizabeth her child and we

could be together.

ROBERT

Victor, did you love her?

OLD VICTOR

I did. She was the light of my life, the reason for my existence. It broke my heart that I

could not give her the child she wanted but now I had fixed that.

ROBERT

Wouldn't Elizabeth have found it strange for you to come home with a baby that had

grown so fast?

OLD VICTOR

I had reached an agreement with the rest of the project leaders, that I would be allowed

my own child without the accelerated growth factor when we had confirmed the projects

possibility to succeed.

ROBERT

What happened next?

OLD VICTOR

It was two years later I had been called by the Project leaders. They said it was an

emergency.

Scene 6


10/24

(Back at Lab Setting, YOUNG VICTOR rushes in from stage left panting, PANDORA is

on her phone talking hastily in jargon, her lab coat is splashed with blood)

YOUNG VICTOR

Pandora whats going on? What's happened here? Where's Adam?

PANDORA

In surgery. It doesn't look good.

YOUNG VICTOR

What happened?

PANDORA

I don't know what caused it. He was saying his whole body hurt and he had a huge

fever. We took him in to get checked by the physicians, and then...

YOUNG VICTOR

What?

PANDORA

It was horrible. His skin began to rip apart. You could see his organs and his muscles.

He was losing so much blood. It was beyond anything I've ever seen.

YOUNG VICTOR

How long has he been in surgery?

PANDORA


11/24

Three hours. I'm sorry we didn't contact you sooner, but we were all rushing around, and

we were panicking.

YOUNG VICTOR

It's OK. It will all be OK. Have faith.

Surgeon

(Enters from stage left)

He has been stabilized.

YOUNG VICTOR

Thank god. How is he?

SURGEON

It appears he will live. But it is unlikely that he will fully recover.

YOUNG VICTOR

Damn it! How bad is it?

SURGEON

The damage is fairly extensive, I'd suggest that you come with me to see for yourselves.

(Exists Left with YOUNG VICTOR and PANDORA following him)

YOUNG VICTOR and Pandora

(Offstage)

Oh my god!


12/24

Scene 7

(Opens back to office)

OLD VICTOR

We had made a mistake in the aging process. The body was not able to support the ac-

celerated growing speed and it literally began to rip apart. Cells and tissue failed, the

skin tore everywhere. My once beautiful creation was gone, it was now a disgusting

remnant of my work.

Robert

Did he survive?

OLD Victor

(Nods)

Yes it did. But it never fully recovered. While its intelligence and physical capabilitieswere rehabilitated its appearance was hideous. Its dead morbid yellow skin was covered

in stitches, its eyes once a stunning green were now a sickening shade of moldy parch-

ment. I despised it now, my love was gone, only contempt for a failure that continued to

plague my existence.

Scene 8

(Back at the lab, PANDORA and YOUNG VICTOR are wearing lab coats and are argu-

ing with each other)

PANDORA

But he's alive! And he can still function at levels beyond normal.


13/24

YOUNG VICTOR

It's disgusting. It's flawed. It must be disposed of.

PANDORA

You want to kill it just like that? How can you be so inhumane?

YOUNG VICTOR

That thing is not a human. It's an experiment that went wrong. What happens when a

product is not made to standards? It is eliminated! That creature is no different.

PANDORA

But he's alive. He can feel, he can think. We've talked with him. He is not something that

I can just kill and throw away.

YOUNG VICTOR

Dr.Thessyl I am ordering you to exterminate that filth right now! And if you do not I will

explain to our employers why our performance has been unsatisfactory! And I do notthink they will be pleased with you Thessyl! So make up your mind!

(PANDORA and YOUNG VICTOR stare angrily at each other for a couple seconds)

PANDORA

Fine.

(Exits stage left)

YOUNG VICTOR

(Pulls out cell phone and dials)


14/24


15/24

And what of Project Prometheus?

OLD VICTOR

The operation continued onwards but we now exercised more control over our endeav-ors. We decided not to create another subject until we could ensure that we could cor-

rect the aging defect and that we had a way to control it. Eventually I recovered and re-

laxed. I began to feel content once more. Then my worst nightmare happened.

ROBERT

He returned?

OLD VICTOR

Yes. A little over two years after the escape it came back. And my life was destroyed.

Scene 10

(Back to lab, YOUNG VICTOR is alone at the table writing, he rubs his eyes and he is

very tired)

Adam

(Emerges slowly and partially out of the shadows at an angle, wearing tattered clothing;

a hood, pants, and shoes so that the audience can not see his face)

Hello Doctor. I've come back.

YOUNG VICTOR

HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! PLEASE IT WILL KILL ME! OH GOD PLEASE

SOMEBODY HELP!

ADAM


16/24

Please stop screaming Father. I came for you.

YOUNG VICTOR

What do you want with me? Do you want to gloat over the deaths you've caused, or doyou want to torture me before you end my life?

ADAM

(Looks down at his hands with a sad look)

No I have no desire to cause any more pain. I have come to make peace with you and

all men.

YOUNG VICTOR

Peace! Peace! What does a fiend know of peace? You are a beast. A monster. A dis-

grace to life.

ADAM

Please stop. I beg you to listen to my plea. I know I have committed wrongs, but I was achild, I was scared I was hurt. I regret what I did, I know I can never undo what has been

done, but I would still have you know I have changed.

YOUNG VICTOR

A rabid hound can never become a pet.

ADAM

I was never rabid. I was only acting in self defense. Those two were about to kill me. I

am sorry they died, but I did what anyone else would have.

YOUNG VICTOR


17/24

What do you want corpse? Weapons, power, money, food?

ADAM

I have no want for tools or sustenance. I can break stones with my fists, I can sprintfaster than any animal, and I have no need of gold. What I desire is much more precious

and valuable.

YOUNG VICTOR

What is it then?

ADAM

I want peace.

YOUNG VICTOR

(Laughing and Mocking)

Peace? Peace? How could anything like you ever find peace? Who could ever touch

your pale parchment skin and not vomit in disgust? Or quake in fear at the sight of yourpulsing eyes?

ADAM

Therein lies your fault father. When you first sought out to create me you had such high

aspirations and dreams for your offspring. You planned to shock the world and be

beloved by all men and women. But when I was injured and needed you most, you

abandoned me. You did not see a child who needed love and care, an opportunity to

better the world, you only saw the ugly failure and letdown you had made. You are shal-

low father. You see only beauty in diamonds and roses, not in the majestic stones or in

the leaves of a gnarled oak tree.

YOUNG VICTOR


18/24

You are a perversion, why should I help you?

ADAM

To make amends to your child.

YOUNG VICTOR

Amends? You deserve only death demon. I owe you nothing.

ADAM

When I was born you could have made me the greatest being in existence. Instead you

disowned me, you threw me out into the cold and dark to fend for myself. I was able to

survive and to teach myself not only to live, but to read and write. I found books in

houses, I read all of them. My intelligence now surpasses even yours Doctor, and I have

learned that while I could seek vengeance on you and all of man, that would serve no

one. You now have the opportunity to redeem yourself. Do not allow petty hate to cloud

your judgment. At the very least it is your duty to help your child.

YOUNG VICTOR

I have no such duty to you. The only obligation I have is to kill you. And as your creator I

have that right.

ADAM

NO YOU DO NOT!....What arrogance. You believe that you have the right to end anther'-

s life because you made them. You are wrong. It is the duty of the creators to help their

offspring. A parent may not slaughter their child.

YOUNG VICTOR

You should not have existed to begin with.

ADAM


19/24

That is true. You transgressed many laws for my birth. But they were committed by you

not me.

YOUNG VICTOR

What I did was for the advancement of Men everywhere. My discovery would revolution-

ize humanity. I would have bestown a blessing onto the world.

ADAM

You are not as benevolent as you claim.

YOUNG VICTOR

I acted out of love and concern, not greed.

ADAM

Many thieves have said the same.

YOUNG VICTOR

Let us stop our debate. I have a question for you now.

ADAM

I will answer you truthfully.

YOUNG VICTOR

Why do you want peace?

ADAM


20/24

Look at me father. I know that my appearance shocks and horrifies the rest of the world.

I can not rest in one place an entire day without running for fear of my life. I have no

comfort, nor any one to console me. I spend my life in allies and shadows, hiding fear-

fully in the dark from others.

YOUNG VICTOR

Yet you have never felt true love or happiness have you?

ADAM

No I have not. But I have felt loneliness.

YOUNG VICTOR

And what do you think of that?

ADAM

To spend life alone is not to live, but to merely survive. From loneliness springs the all

consuming depression that all seek refuge from. That is why I have come for you. To be

my savior, save me from this cold dark fate. Help me? Please, I beg you. Make me nor-mal once more so that I may walk in the sun without fear. So that I may coexist with oth-

ers.

YOUNG VICTOR

And if I can do this for you, if I can make you "normal", what will you do?

ADAM

I swear I will leave you alone. I will live out the rest of my life with want for little else. Till

the end of my days. I will not disturb nor harm a soul. All I ask is that you give me this.

YOUNG VICTOR


21/24

How can I trust you? What would prevent you from slaughtering me the moment you

have been repaired?

ADAM

Think of Elizabeth.

YOUNG VICTOR

Why?

ADAM

Do you love her?

YOUNG VICTOR

With all of my essence, with every fiber of my being I love her.

ADAM

Then imagine life without her. Imagine her gone. Could you really condemn your ownchild to this fate, to eternal solitude and fear?

YOUNG VICTOR

(Pauses and reluctantly says)

No. No I couldn't. You are right, every living thing deserves someone else to share and

live life with.

ADAM

Thank you father. Thank you.

YOUNG VICTOR


22/24

I cannot promise you that I can fix you. And even if it is possible, I will have to convince

the rest of the project to join me me as well.

ADAM

I understand that. But I will not break my word, even if you are not able to help me the

effort and compassion you have extended me is enough.

YOUNG VICTOR

Come here Adam. Let me examine you, just to get an idea of what I must do.

ADAM

(Walks over to YOUNG VICTOR, his face still hidden from the audience)

YOUNG VICTOR

Stand still, this shouldn't take too long.

(Slowly walks around ADAM a couple times, inspecting him. Then when behind ADAM,he pulls a knife out of his lab coat pocket and stabs him on the shoulder with it)

DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE FOUL BEAST RETURN FROM WHENCE YOU CAME! I will never

provide you with any solace except for death. For that is what you deserve. Know this

you abomination, I curse you, now and forever you shall be the bane of my existence!

ADAM

(Yells in pain, pulls knife out and hits Victor to the floor then clutches his shoulder)

You have betrayed me! Even after I made peace, even after I promised to never harm

anyone again, to leave you alone! But now I am not so naive. Now I have no compas-

sion left for you or for rest of your barbaric kind! I will punish you with the fate you have

sentenced me with.


23/24

YOUNG VICTOR

What? Will you kill me? Go ahead and do it. Kill me now. I don't care because I will die

knowing you will live the rest of your existence in pain and alone and that I have bestedyou.

ADAM

No Doctor. I will not be that kind to a vile waste like you.

YOUNG VICTOR

Then what will you do then?

ADAM

If I must die alone then so shall you. I will destroy all those you hold dear. I will strangle

and rip them apart. I will make them scream in pain as their life is torn from their broken

bodies. And when you sit weeping at their mangled corpses hear me laugh. Hear me

laugh. Because you had the chance to stop this. You did, but your treachery and hatred

has been your undoing. Now prepare father, prepare to weep, as your blodd mixes withhers.

(ADAM uses the knife to stab YOUNG VICTOR in the shoulder, and throw him to the

ground. ADAM runs off stage right. Slamming the door)

YOUNG VICTOR

(Run and try to open door, pounding on it)

ELIZABETH! ELIZABETH! ELIZABETH! ELIZABETH! ELIZABETH!

(Lights turn off)

Scene 11


24/24

(Back to office)

OLD VICTOR

It killed her. It killed her. My pride, my anger, my hatred, it caused her death. I am re-

sponsible, though I did not do the crime.

ROBERT

You truly believe this.

OLD VICTOR

Yes. My passion was my undoing.

ROBERT

Why did you attack him then? He promised to leave you in peace. He was your child.

OLD VICTOR

My desire, my drive for perfection, it blinded me and hardened my heart from what truly

mattered. And in the end I lost everything, my life, my work, my freedom, my love. Ev-

erything. Gone. Some sleepless nights I will stare at the shadows from my barred win-

dow. Knowing that it and I are both confined now to the dark. Maybe, I deserved what

happened to me, all because of my pride.

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