Windsor Theatre Guild

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for WTG audition call out July 2026

Windsor Theatre Guild’s 2026 winter show ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ adapted for the stage by Rona Monroe will be directed by Anna Jones and performed at The Old Court, Windsor.

Auditions will be held at 8pm on Tuesday 1st September and at 8pm on Thursday 3rd September.

You only need to attend one audition but can read for as many parts as you wish.

Rehearsals will start on Tuesday 8th September, on every Tuesday and Thursday 8pm – 10pm, and every Sunday 2pm – 5pm until the show week beginning Monday 16th November 2026.

All actors MUST be available for tech Monday 16th November, dress Tuesday 17th November and for the show run Wednesday 18th November - Saturday 21st November and the get out Sunday 22nd November.

To apply to audition please send an email to XXX by clicking the button below. Information required will your name, playing age, email, phone number, role preference(s), which audition you will attend (1st or 3rd September) and any dates you are not available for rehearsals. Audition pieces will be sent out via email to those called for audition. Your data will only be used for this project.

 

Director comments

I have directed five shows for WTG – all written by brilliant British writers. But all male. So I have chosen Rona Monroe’s adaptation as it places Mary Shelley at the heart of the action, reminding us that Frankenstein was written by a woman who was only eighteen when she began the creation of the iconic story. As Monroe puts it in her introduction to the script: I’d rarely seen a version that put Mary visible and potent in the centre of her story as the skilled writer she was. She was an incredibly gifted and courageous young woman, who chose to break most of the social and cultural rules of the society she was born into.

Shelley had experienced deeply impactful death at this young age. Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft - pioneer of feminism and advocate for educational and social equality for women – died eleven days after giving birth to Mary. Mary had lost three young children in the three years before writing, leaving her traumatised and grieving. And Harriet Shelley, distressed by her husband Percy Shelley’s elopement with Mary, committed suicide, drowning herself and her unborn child in Hyde Park's Serpentine in December 1816.

It seems unsurprising amidst such loss, that Mary should write a piece focused on the creation of life, and the impact of wielding this for personal ambition, with no consideration of tragic consequences.

So deep is Frankenstein in our psyche that it is easy to forget that Shelley arguably created the whole genre of science fiction horror. We all have a familiar image of Boris Karloff’s Hammer Horror Creature in our minds eye – with thematic spins offs as wide ranging as The Rocky Horror Picture Show to Bladerunner.

Our version aims to take a fresh look at this classic, although will be set when it was written – 1818 – and we will keep to this period with costume. However, the production will be given a contemporary twist with visuals created by Anshul Tiwari and an original soundscape and score by Rob Harris.

 

 

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein - cast list

Please note that for this WTG version a few roles will be considered as male or female as noted here, but traditional character pronouns are used in the descriptions.

Mary Shelley F 20-30 years

Mary Shelley was only 18 when she wrote Frankenstein. Instead of merely narrating from the sidelines, Mary's character exists within the world of her book. She speaks directly to the audience to guide them through the story while experiencing her own emotional journey as she writes. The play highlights the deep parallels between Mary's real life, such as the loss of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her struggles as a young, female writer in the early 1800s competing with male literary giants. Her character ultimately has to confront the creature she imagined and reflect on where her dark ideas came from.

Victor Frankenstein M 20-40 years

The eldest son of a wealthy Geneva family, Victor is highly ambitious and determined to leave his mark on the world. While studying at the University of Ingolstadt, Victor becomes obsessed with the secret of life, spending months gathering biological materials from charnel-houses and slaughterhouses. He then infuses an unknown "spark of being" into his creation of a grotesque Creature, from whom he then recoils in horror. Victor keeps his creation of the Creature a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realises how helpless he is to prevent the Creature from ruining his life and the lives of others. In an attempt to atone for his ambition and excessive pride, Victor becomes obsessed with tracking and killing the Creature yet succeeds only in isolating himself from all human contact.

The Creature M/F any age – but played as male as key part of script

The creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent, eloquent, and sensitive, the Creature attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. No one will accept him because of his appearance. He is doomed to a life of bitter loneliness and isolation. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator. The Creature is composed of various body parts scavenged from cemeteries and morgues, so is hideous: ‘yellow skin scarcely covers the work of muscles and arteries beneath," with a "shrivelled complexion and straight black lips." Born innocent, the Creature is confused when Victor violently rejects him. After this rejection, the Creature alternates between acts of horrific violence and touching kindness. When Victor tears apart the mate he had agreed to create for the Creature, the Creature kills Victor's best friend and Victor's wife.

Victor and the Creature serve as doubles of each other, revolving in opposite ways around many of the book's themes. Their relationship is not a simple matter of one character being good and the other evil, however. Rather, the two shift back and forth in terms of morality, with the actions of each being more moral at some times and more objectionable at others.

Captain Robert Walton M any age

The Arctic explorer who picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. Walton frames the beginning and end of the story, playing a valuable thematic role. Seeking to accomplish "great purpose" in life regardless of risk and consequence, his ambition parallels Frankenstein's.

Ship Master M/F any age

The Master of the ship that Walton hires to explore the Arctic. Described in the novel as with ‘dauntless courage’, he nonetheless tries to dissuade Walton from proceeding with the risk of the voyage for the sake of his crew. The ship is not given a specific name in the novel, but has been known as The Prometheus in other adaptations, in honour of the original novel’s title: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, where the Greek myth of this Titan is allegory for Victor Frankenstein's fated ambition.

Henry Clerval M 20-40 years

Victor’s closest friend from childhood who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. His cheerfulness counters Victor’s moroseness. Henry is an easy-going, helpful, and charming young man whom is at Victor’s side through his breakdowns. He displays the attentive, caring, devoted behaviour of a true friend. The Creature murders Henry after Victor breaks his promise to create a companion female Creature.

Alphonse Frankenstein (in script as Father) M 30+ years

Victor’s wealthy, respected, compassionate and caring father. Highly sympathetic towards his son, he consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family. Alphonse dies soon after his Elizabeth is killed, crushed by the weight of too much sorrow.

Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein (in script as Mother) F 30+ years

The matriarch of the Frankenstein family. She was the daughter of Alphonse’s friend Beaufort, who fell on hard times and died destitute. Caroline is a devoted wife and mother who dies of scarlet fever as a result of nursing Elizabeth through the illness just before Victor heads off to Ingolstadt.

Elizabeth Lavenza F 20-30 years

An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom Alphonse and Caroline Frankenstein adopt and who Caroline decides will eventually marry Victor. Elizabeth is pure goodness and embodies the novel’s motif of subjugated women, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention. She and Victor grow up as good friends and cousins and eventually marry. The Creature murders Elizabeth on their wedding night.

William Frankenstein M/F under 20 years

Victor’s young brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The Creature strangles William in the woods outside Geneva to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the Creature, although Victor does nothing to protect Justine who is accused of William’s murder and executed.

Justine Moritz F any age

Justine is an orphan taken into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the Creature. A loyal servant and help to the family, Justine is an innocent victim of Victor's creation and his refusal to acknowledge what he has created. Her religious beliefs see her confess to William’s murder to ensure her soul's salvation. Like Elizabeth, she is given up by her family, but finds a loving home, although one that ultimately destroys them.

De Lacey (in script as Peter) M/F 30+ years

The exiled head of the De Lacey family that the Creature observes, and of which he grows very fond and hopes to join. De Lacey is blind so does not see the Creature’s appearance and treats him with humanity. He represents the inherent goodness that exists in human nature, unimpeded by prejudice.

Felix M 20-30 years

Son of De Lacey, brother to Agatha, and fiancé to Safie. It is through Felix’s lessons with Safie that the Creature learns to speak and to read, and understand the meaning and feeling of love, family and belonging.

Agatha F 20 – 30 years

Daughter of De Lacey and sister to Felix. She tries to remain in good spirits but is saddened by her family’s impoverished and exiled existence. When the Creature reveals himself to the family she drives him away.

Safie F 20-30 years

Felix’s fiancé. She is a young woman of Turkish descent who longed to marry Felix against her father’s wishes. She escapes and travels to live with the De Lacey family.

Professor Waldman M 30+ years

The professor of chemistry at the University of Ingolstadt who sparks Victor’s interest in science and seeks to explore the origin of life.

Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori M 20-40 years

These prologue cameo roles do not appear in the Rona Monroe script, but we will create a short prologue piece that tells the story of how the Frankenstein story came to being. The ghost story competition took place in the summer of 1816 at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Stranded indoors by the unseasonable weather of the ‘Year Without a Summer,’ Lord Byron challenged his companions to write the scariest tale —Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and John Polidori, who developed his story The Vampyre, the foundational text for the modern vampire genre.

These cameo roles could be played by the actors playing - De Lacey, Felix, Professor Waldman, Henry Clerval, Robert Walton, Alphonse Frankenstein – depending on casting.