In Mary Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein deals with his grief by constructing a creature out of stolen body parts. When animated, the limbs become hideous, creating a parable about the vainglorious urge for eternal life.
When You Walk Over My Grave is a metatheatrical take on the same idea. It is a play that itself is constructed from stolen artistic body parts – from Romeo and Juliet to the playwright’s own back catalogue, plus real figures from history’s darkest corners – in a funny and oddball commentary on our relationship with death.
