Not quite sure why but my last few posts seem to have been very horror themed, or at least about being scared - and that Doctor Who soundcard went off again at random yesterday, it really is going to give me a heart attack - so inkeeping with that theme, I shall tell you about my trip to the Duke of York theatre yesterday to see Ghost Stories.
It was always going to be an interesting trip, as I was accompanied by Linda from Postcard of a Painting. Linda is a huge Derren Brown fan - it was her idea to go see the show, as one of the guys who wrote it works with DB. But this also makes her more interested in the act of misdirection than in scares - in looking where the play doesn't want you to look. A tough sell, in other words. Put her together with scaredy cat me, the results could be amusing...
As it was, the play managed to pull off some tricks that impressed even Linda, while no managing to properly scare even me. It's always hard to review a show that depends on shock value without spoiling, so I'll keep this deliberately vague... but it could have been scarier. There are, it's true, some genuine shocks - a couple of real jump out of your seat moments, some fantastically clever effects, and some just plain 'ick!' creep outs, and an ending that really will blow you away. This is all reinforced by clever staging - the whole theatre, from the foyer onwards, is part of the show, so the goosebumps factor comes into play from the start.
The problem is that the slightly fragmented nature of the stories makes it hard to keep momentum going, and some of the shocks felt a long time coming. Or maybe I'm just tougher than I think...
Still, it rattles along - 90 minutes, no interval, my favourite theatre phrase - and it's unlike anything else you'll see in the West End, so it makes for a fun night out. Go, but with measured expectations.
You have been warned...
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