Monsters of the Villa Diodati
Monsters of the Villa Diodati is an electrifying musical about the legendary 1816 gathering of writers at Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva. As relentless storms keep Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin, Claire Clairmont, and Dr. John William Polidori indoors, Byron challenges the group to create the perfect tale of terror. Their competition becomes the creative and emotional crucible behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Polidori’s The Vampyre.
The musical examines how memory, grief, ambition, desire, radical ideas about love, and intense personal relationships shaped these literary figures. Told substantially through the perspective of Mary Shelley—both as the young woman living through the summer and as the older woman remembering it—the story explores the boundary between historical fact and imaginative speculation. It also considers the strange conditions surrounding the group, including the “Year Without a Summer,” the effects of the Mount Tambora eruption, early experiments with electricity and galvanism, and the public’s fascination with the scandalous residents of the villa.
When: October 8–November 1, 2026
Showtimes: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 PM; Sundays at 2:00 PM.
Opening Night: October 10, 2026, with tickets priced at $75.
Tickets: Tier 1 tickets are $50, Tier 2 tickets are $40, and student tickets are $25. All preview performances are half price with the code PREVIEW. The code SSS provides $15 off Sunday performances at 2:00 PM, except for the closing Sunday performance.
Creative Team: Music and lyrics are by Matt Conner, with the book and lyrics by Stephen Gregory Smith. Conner directs, and Garrett Jones is the music director.
Story and Background: The production draws on the real-life summer when the writers gathered near Lake Geneva and challenged one another to write supernatural stories. Polidori developed the idea of an aristocratic vampire from an unfinished fragment by Byron, while Mary Shelley eventually created Frankenstein’s monster. The musical also explores the complicated bonds among Mary, her stepsister Claire, Percy, Byron, and Polidori, including their unconventional views of marriage, sexuality, and “free love.”
Historical Themes: The show uses documented history alongside deliberate speculation, including the unproven possibility of a sexual relationship between Byron and Percy Shelley. It follows the influence of the storm-filled summer, contemporary fascination with electricity and reanimation, Byron’s celebrity, and the telescopes reportedly used by onlookers hoping to spy on the villa’s inhabitants. Later Gothic events, including Percy Shelley’s drowning and the preservation of what was believed to be his heart, also inform the production’s atmosphere.
Development: The musical first premiered in 2016 to critical acclaim and was originally commissioned by Creative Cauldron in Falls Church through its Bold New Works for Intimate Stages initiative.
Accessibility: Closed-captioned performances are scheduled for October 15 at 7:30 PM and October 18 at 2:00 PM.
Ages: Recommended for ages 13 and older.
Venue: Creative Cauldron, 127 E Broad St, Falls Church, VA 22046.
Phone: 703-436-9948