A MONSTER piece of theatre is set to storm its way across Dorset tomorrow.

Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle has come up with a radical vision for his stage version of Frankenstein by casting two stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, as both the creature and the man who created him.

The actors are playing the monster and his creator Dr Frankenstein – on alternate nights at the National Theatre, the director believing that this will keep the production fresh and exciting. Also, the show will be told from the monster’s point of view.

As a member of the National Theatre Live initiative, the Lighthouse Poole, Regent theatre Christchurch and the Electric Palace in Bridport will be screening the production live at 7pm when the performance will star Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Dr Frankenstein.

Written nearly 200 years ago by Mary Shelley when she was a mere 18 years old, Frankenstein is possibly the world’s greatest tale of horror and humanity.

The latest stage production of this ultimate chiller – explores the dangers of meddling with the delicate balance between science and nature.

The story about an idealistic medical student who contrives a way to create life out of the dead and the disastrous consequences of his experiment.

It was originally written in 1818 by the young Shelley during a holiday in Switzerland with her future husband the poet Percy Byshe Shelley and their friend the charismatic Lord Byron.

Bored during a rainy weekend the unlikely trio decided to pass the time by staging a competition to see who could write the most thrilling and frightening story.

Inspired by a nightmare, Mary came up with Frankenstein.

Buried in a tomb in Bournemouth’s St Peter’s Churchyard where a blue plaque marks the site, lie the remains of members of the famous Shelley family.

They include author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, the heart of her poet husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley’s father William Godwin and her mother, the genius pioneer of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft.

Strangely, not one of these four is believed to have set foot in Bournemouth when they were alive. The story became a classic novel, was given new life in the 20th century by a film industry searching for visually exciting stories and has remained, along with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a staple of the horror genre ever since.

It also continues to sell steadily in book form and regularly finds itself used as a set academic text. Frankenstein, of course, has an extraordinary modern resonance in an age when subjects like GM crops, man-made viruses and genetic engineering are seldom out of the headlines.

Today, the Bournemouth location of the Shelley tomb still draws literary pilgrims from around the globe and some local venues showing this latest production have already sold out.

• Frankenstein is showing at the Lighthouse Poole (sold out), The Regent Christchurch and The Electric Palace in Bridport and 7pm tomorrow evening.