Globe theatre critic Peter Grant meets the least scary star of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein coming to the Playhouse in November.

SCOTTISH actress Eilidh Loan has appeared as Lady Macbeth on radio and Lady Jane Grey on TV in BBC4's England's Forgotten Queen - so she has no fear of playing strong women.

The 22-year-old star is thrilled that her latest incarnation on stage is the non-royal but equally famous writer Mary Shelley – the 18-year-old author who created the Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein and married poet Percy Blysshe Shelley.

Having travelled up and down the country on tour with this powerful, ambitious play Erskine-born Eilidh is thrilled that so many young people are coming to see it and taking away from it a real buzz.

She tells the Globe: "I am a huge supporter of getting youngsters into the theatre.

"Not only to enjoy new work but to also see it as a career. It's absolutely fantastic to see a sea of young faces out there."

And she is quite a role model for budding thespians having graduated from the Guilford School of Acting in Surrey where she won the Alan Bates award for most promising actor.

Elihad is already hugely experienced in her chosen field. She now wants to pass on her love of drama and is passionate about encouraging more youngsters into that world.

"I am lucky because I had parents who were always supportive. Theatre is a medium like no other - it breaks down barriers."

She is equally enthusiastic about her latest ‘dream role’ and the vision of her director Rhona Munro.

It is the tale of a brilliant young scientist called Frankenstein, creator of a gruesome monster who - after rejection and broken promises - is pushed into despair and darkness.

It all leads to a bloodthirsty hunt for the man who gave him life and yet took it away.

Says Eilidh: "I play the feisty Mary who appears on the stage to tell the story she wrote as a dare, a ghost story writing contest which was published anonymously two years later in 1818.

"Through Mary's words I have learned a lot about the process of writing and that has been so helpful to me as I am also a playwright."

Mary says people who have seen the various films and TV productions may come away with yet another perception.

"There are some striking special effects in design, sound and lighting.

"I hope people have sympathy for the tragic monster.

"He is human and you feel sorry for him.

"This is a play about many factors on different levels – the mis-use of great men in power and love and companionship.

"I am sure audiences in Liverpool will find something they hadn't thought about in this Frankenstein, coming away thinking 'I never knew that.'

She says all the cast are looking forward to playing Merseyside: "There's a lot of Beatle fans in our company - we will make the most of that."

Back to Mary and Frankenstein, she says: "I honestly think it is relevant to today and will resonate.

"That is what everyone involved in the production has been striving for.

"The stark realities of revolutionary young women, then and now."

Eilidh says the play is ideal for these cold, Autumn nights.

"Wrap yourself up and come and see us and be scared," she says in her warm Scottish accent.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Liverpool Playhouse

November 11 to 16

0151 709 4776.