Arts > Theatre

Ghost Stories

Norwich Theatre Royal

16/04/25

It's surely bad form to reveal the plot of any show in a review but it does happen and too often, so it was no great surprise to find a slip of paper between the pages of my program pleading with audience and critic alike to keep the secrets of Ghost Stories to themselves. We can, surely, reveal that Professor Goodman opens the evening by lecturing the theatre audience - an early sign that the fourth wall affords little protection for the faint hearted, and that his lecture forms the framing device for three ghost stories. So far, after all, we've discussed only what's in the advertising blurb.

It's a structure that fans of portmanteau films - notably “Dead of Night” gets an early nod - will be familiar, a genre that Amicus made their own in the seventies. It's a small marvel that this production manages to mimic these films so elegantly, moving from one story to the next, in large start due to brilliant staging, combining Jon Bausor's superlative sets with James Farncombe's lighting, Nick Manning's sound and special effects from Scott Penrose to create an otherworldly, dreamlike atmosphere that one might have thought impossible live on stage.

The show was co-written by Jeremy Dyson, and I first saw it in the West End when the Professor was played by his fellow League of Gentlemen, Reece Shearsmith. Good though Shearsmith was, I felt Dan Tetsell's performance was the stronger, perfectly capturing that peculiar mix of authority and pomposity that typifies academia. I got the sense the play has been tinkered with since its West End run, not least his acknowledgement of social media, but perhaps forewarned I simply picked up on more. In any event the narrative is peppered with mischievous clues that never give the game away, but - if you've been playing close enough attention - can be greatly enjoyed in hindsight.

David Cardy and Eddie Loodmer-Elliot both told their stories well, but it was Clive Mantel - no stranger to the Norwich stage - that really stole the show as Mike Priddle, a character both bombastic and vulnerable and by turns scary and scared. In fairness, he was gifted the best tale in a production that wasn't entirely without fault. Cardy's opening tale was oddly paced, while the big reveal of the central story happened so briefly it was somewhat wasted. Quibbles aside, however, both these stories where handsomely presented with a complexity and scale rarely seen in a touring production.

For all the hype, I found the experience creepy rather than frightening, and judging by the mix of screams and laughs from the audience views were split down the middle. The obligatory jump scares were well done, but it was the encroaching sense of dread that was most impressive. Whether you gasped or chuckled, it was prompted by a release of tension, and what unified the audience was a palpable sense of a good time had by all. Whether you were in Team Sceptic or Team Believer, as Danny Robins would say, this was a jolly hoot from beginning to the end.

With regard to that end, fans of the portmanteau format will know, and expect, a sting in the tale, as the bridging device ties everything together. It's quite often a perfunctory anti-climax tacked on as if an afterthought. Thankfully, Ghost Stories didn't disappointment. On the contrary, those audience members who decided they couldn't take any more - I counted four walkouts - missed by far the best part of the show.

 Because what happens is...but that would be telling.