But Also – curdling into a thing of genuine darkness.
It's a thing of beauty with a heart of darkness; the surfaces have never been so alluring, so enticing, so literally lovely.
And there's a brilliant line when Prospero says of him, 'This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine.'" He wonders if people generally need to find a similar acceptance: not of violence, but the darkness within humanity that provokes it, which can never be satisfactorily punished or understood.
"This thing of darkness I / Acknowledge mine," he says.
"This thing of darkness" is what Prospero calls Caliban at one point in "The Tempest," but the phrase is used by Mr. Lucas to refer to the future.
The point is that the Creature is human – but Frankenstein, unlike Prospero is, by the very nature of his paternity, unable to say "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine".
What does Prospero mean when he says of Caliban, at the end of the play, "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine?" And by the way, who is Caliban's father?
THIS THING OF DARKNESS By Craig Lucas and David Schulner; directed by Mr. Lucas; set by John McDermott; costumes by Candice Donnelly; lighting by Christopher Akerlind; sound by Scott Myers; production stage manager, Jane Pole; production manager, Kurt Gardner; general manager, Ryan Freeman.
What I keep trying to point out, to friends, to anyone who will listen, is that too few of us are willing to acknowledge responsibility not necessarily to accept blame, but to stand up and say, "This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine".
