Book now: Skint Theatre’s Beautiful Monster at Salford Arts Theatre

Brought to you by Skint’s creative director, Karlton Parris, Beautiful Monster depicts the eve of Mary Shelley’s death as she is caught in the throes of madness. Left alone with the vulgar housekeeper Bertha, Mary suffers hallucinations which recall her past lovers and antagonists; from epic altercations with Percy’s formidable mother, Elizabeth Pilfold Shelley, the caring friendship of her loving step sister Claire Clairmont, her dead husband Percy Shelley and her lover Lord Byron. In her final hours, she is also visited by her younger self and in a petrifying turn of events, is also confronted by Frankenstein, the very monster she created and which assured her status as one of the most iconic English authors. As the inevitable end draws closer, Mary and Bertha confront the reality of insanity, the mystery of female friendship, the loss of children and loved ones, the retelling of an extraordinary life and the keeping of a heart breaking promise. After a five year hiatus, Manchester-based theatre company Skint productions are re-ignited and return with this daring theatrical piece. Indeed, darkly comical, twisted and erotic, Beautiful Monster will keep audiences gripped as it delves into themes of regret, mortality and madness.

Tue 28 Feb – Sat 4 Mar, Salford Arts Theatre, Kemsing Walk, Turnbridge Square, off Liverpool Street, Salford, M5 4BS. Tel: 0161 9250111, 7.30pm, from £15, www.salfordartstheatre.com