Benedict Cumberbatch & Johnny Lee Miller in the National Theatre's Frankenstein. On YouTube. Free.

The opening scene of Frankenstein, as the Monster emerges from the womb....

Tired of Netflix? Me, too.

So thanks to a tip from Dr. Rosanne Welch, Director of our MFA program (thanks, Rosanne!) I spent tonight watching Frankenstein, a performance shot live in 2011 at the National Theatre and released (for a few days, anyway) for free on YouTube.

It's a show of such beauty and horror that I may have to watch it again tomorrow night: That's because the two actors -- Cumberbatch and Miller -- traded their roles as Victor Frankenstein and the Monster each night, and YouTube offers them both.   I watched the Cumberbatch-as-Monster version, and I think I might prefer him as the twisted English scientist....we shall see.

In the meantime, it was a gift and a relief to take a break from Tiger King and Never Have I Ever and to be reminded of the power of theatre to inspire -- and terrify.