Review: MARY: The Birth of Frankenstein by Jess Sayer at ASB Waterfront Theatre

Olivia Tennet as Mary Godwin. (Image: Supplied)

Sun, 31 Aug 2025

Auckland Theatre Company’s 2025 season takes a gothic turn with MARY: The Birth of Frankenstein, a new work by award-winning playwright Jess Sayer. Directed by Oliver Driver, the production premiered on Aug 23 and runs until Sept 7 at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. The show opens with a bang and never quite lets the room settle. Our story follows a familiar group who scandalised polite society at the beginning of the 1800s. Mary Godwin and Percy Shelley left London in the wake of their affair, followed by Mary’s half-sis...

Subscribe to BusinessDesk

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.

Deeply researched, twice-edited and fact-checked news
Annual subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to The Wall Street Journal
Personalised email news alerts, plus gift up to 5 stories a month to non-subscribers

You can cancel anytime with two clicks, an email or a phone call.
Find out more.

We are serious about journalism.

Already a Subscriber ? Sign in here.

Name {{ registerForm.errors.get('name') }}

Email address {{ registerForm.errors.get('email') }}

Phone Number {{ registerForm.errors.get('phone') }}

Job Title {{ registerForm.errors.get('title') }}

Password Minimum password length of 8 characters.
Require at least one upper and lowercase, numeric, and special character. {{ registerForm.errors.get('password') }}

Repeat password {{ registerForm.errors.get('password_confirmation') }}

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Credit Card

Cardholder's name

{{ __(plans[index].name) | capitalize }} {{ plans[index].attributes.old_price | currency }} {{ plans[index].price | currency }}

All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service

{{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}

The Life Review

Connection heaven: Universal 17-in-1 docking station

The Cruxtec Universal 17-in-1 DisplayLink Docking Station is plug-and-play heaven.

Jacques Steenkamp 5:00am

The Life Review

Jaguar F-Pace 90th Anniversary Edition: not with a bang

More to the point, the F-Pace is still a rather good vehicle.

David Linklater 5:00am

Jaguar F-Pace 90th Anniversary Edition: not with a bang

The Life Review

‘Hostage’: From a place of darkness

Hamas kidnapped Eli Sharabi on Oct 7, 2023. His memoir recounts a hellish ordeal.

The Wall Street Journal 5:00am

Sponsored

Why New Zealand organisations need to rethink their cloud strategy

New Zealand organisations have embraced cloud computing over the past decade, but many are now confronting a sobering reality: adoption alone isn’t enough. According to Datacom’s 2025 Cloud & Infrastructure Report, only half of New Zealand businesses say they’ve realised the benefits they expected from cloud – despite significant investment.

Datacom

Sponsored