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Frankenstein's Dialogues
Frankenstein
Sound recording, story; Frankenstein, Ben Haggarty's version of the literary tale Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley, told by Ben Haggarty, accompanied by musician Sianed Jones, in a public performance at Flying Donkey's Storytelling Club, The Voice Box, Derby, 8th November 2006.
Introduction to the second half of the performance by an unidentified Master of Ceremonies, followed by a performance by Ben Haggarty, with musical and vocal accompaniment by Sianed Jones. The story tells of a scientist's creation of a man-monster, who persues his terrified maker and, when rejected by both his maker and society, seeks revenge. It is a story about the arrogance of humankind, and humankind's search for its creator and for meaningful existence.
The programme note reads, 'Mary Shelley says that the story came to her in a trance following an evening of folk-tale telling. This powerful performance is a creative reponse to her work of art. It is a collaborative improvisation between two acclaimed improvisers: one an oral narrator, the other a musician, In returning the story to the spoken word the audience is invited to participate in a dangerous cinema of the imagination and enter a feverish dreaming'.
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley, first published anonymously in London, but more commonly known by the revised third edition of 1831 published under her own name. The novel contains elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the "over-reaching" of modern man and the Industrial Revolution, as alluded to by the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture, and influenced a complete genre of horror stories and films. The work is sometimes referred to as the very first science fiction novel, and is often considered to be an example of a modern day myth. Frankenstein was first published on 1 January 1818, issued anonymously, with a preface written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and with a dedication to philosopher William Godwin, her father. On 31 October 1831, the first "popular" edition in one volume appeared, under Shelley's own name.
Frankenstein's Dialogues was originally commissioned by The Guardian Hay Festival in 2003, with funding from the Arts Council of England.
audience:-	adult
recording quality
condition:-	good
completeness:-	incomplete
duration:-	0 hours, 59 minutes, 10 seconds
Storytelling clubs operate in a variety of formats. Some clubs provide a place where anyone can come and tell stories to a small intimate and specialist audience ('floor-spots'); while other clubs run a programme of performances by professional or semi-professional storytellers, and many clubs do a combination of both. In 2007 the UK had in the region of 55 storytelling clubs: the larger, more prominent clubs provide a low key, small-scale circuit for storytelling, for a specialist-interest audience.
storytelling:-	storyteller: Ben Haggarty male / British / born 30.11.1958
storytelling:-	musician; singer; composer: Sianed Jones female / Welsh / British
storytelling:-	Master of Ceremonies male / British
origin:-	author: Mary Shelley storyteller: Ben Haggarty male / British / born 30.11.1958 composer: Sianed Jones female / Welsh / British
	Event publicity
	Images of Ben Haggarty and Sianed Jones Performing Frankenstein's Dialogues in 2003.
	Click to enlarge images
programming & administration:-	programmer; administrator: Flying Donkey's Storytelling Club
storytelling:-	Derby, England: The Voice Box 08 Nov 2006 storytelling club: Flying Donkey's Storytelling Club Frankenstein
performance recording from:-	archivist: Kate Norgate

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