Writers: Nat Riches and Natasha Atkinson
Director: Gina Stock
Musical Director: Rich Mandal
Lighting Designer: Beatrice Heslop
Reviewer: Lela Tredwell
FROM THE SOCIETY THAT BROUGHT SIX THE MUSICAL TO THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 2017
Originally performed in Camden Fringe by Cambridge University’s Musical Theatre Society, this musical about the gathering of a group of Romantics on Lake Geneva, is inspired by the diaries of Dr John Polidori and explores the origin stories of two classic Gothic tales: Frankenstein and The Vampyre. It’s a fun romp through the torture of the writing process and the struggles of meeting expectations. If you like your musicals historical(ish), histrionic, and heavy with song then this could well be the one for you.
The eruption of Mount Tombora in 1815 caused widespread famine and economic collapse; it also meant a group of troubled young adults were stuck inside for a while. Fenced in by freezing rain on Lake Geneva, with nothing much to entertain them beyond their own personal dramas, a few peacocks (beast and man), and a limited supply of quill pens, Lord Byron (Oliver Kingston), Percy Shelley (Danny Andrews), Mary Godwin (Kate Woodman) and Dr John Polidori (Wilf Offord) get to writing. While Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont (Kaitlin Pryce) is also there.
Desperate to avoid Clairmont’s insistent efforts to talk to him, the “dangerous to know” Lord Byron, played commandingly by Oliver Kingston, suggests a ghost story writing competition to pass the time. If the host had remembered to pack some boardgames, how different it might have been, but instead his luggage contains a modern day bra he casts aside as quickly as Clairmont, and so the event goes down in literary history.
Billed as a ‘Friends meets Frankenstein’ comedy-drama musical, the production surrenders authenticity to follow the fun. When it comes to character dynamics, the relationship between Dr John Polidori (Offord) and Lord Byron (Kingston) is particularly intriguing, while that of Percy Shelley (Andrews) and Mary Godwin (Kate Woodman) is less arresting. The connection of Mary and Claire (Pryce) being step-sisters, and having grown up together, is sadly all but lost.
Formulaic but with considerable flair, the production has some real stand out moments. Live musicians on stage create a rich accompany to vocals. Polidori’s (Offord) torchlight number where he morphs into a vampire’s familiar to Lord Byron’s life blood-sucking behaviour is beautifully done, while Mary Shelley’s (Woodman) making of a monster number is delightfully brought to life by the ensemble.
There’s a flavour of The Great Gatsby to this group of careless people; self-indulgent and self-absorbed, they drive each other to distraction while trying to cope with extreme weather conditions. 1816: The Year Without A Summer embraces the melodrama of the Romantics with intense subjectivity and high passion. It’s well worth a watch, but to become ‘The One With All The Greats’ it could do with a more consistent focus on character development to enhance its narrative. It poses the question: what actually does it mean for a person to be considered great and whether to be deemed so you have to be at least a little bit of a monster?
Reviewed on the 19th May 2026
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7
