In the summer of 1816, five young artists gathered in Switzerland. Out of that weekend came Frankenstein—and five burned diaries. So what could have happened that led nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley, as a guest of Lord Byron, to write Frankenstein?

We Shall Be Monsters by April Lavalle is a scary, dark, and horny comedy, exploring the veiled patriarchal systems that shaped Mary Shelley’s world, her social life, and her marriage, and how those very systems inspired Frankenstein. At Villa Diodati, Mary, her insecure husband Percy, her irreverent step-sister Claire, the scandal-ridden Lord Byron, and his beleaguered physician Polidori clash in a weekend of genius, madness, desire, and destruction.

Directed by Andrew Barth Feldman for two performances only at the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre Studio.

November 22, 2025