As a horror-fan and English Teacher by day, I’m pretty confident in my ability to anticipate the ebbs and flows of a spooky storytelling structure. So when I was invited to experience ‘Ghost Stories’ at Brighton’s Theatre Royal, I thought I knew what I was in for: a patronising Professor who dismisses all things supernatural, until increasingly inexplicable events force him to accept the existence of the other side, with a few jump scares along the way.
Ghost Stories is another level altogether.
First performed in 2010, and created by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, Ghost Stories expertly explores and manipulates the human psyche. Nyman’s history of collaboration with Derren Brown (psychological illusionist) shines through in his understanding of and capitalising on the brain’s quirks and primal fears. The play is magnificently structured by Dyson and Nyman: clear masters at toying with the audience. The cast was also excellent; Lucas Albion made an enthralling and jovially skeptical Professor Goodman, who introduces us to real-life seemingly supernatural phenomena, explaining each one away with comforting ease. But, as the 85 minute, one-act play progresses, this facade begins to crack, along with our faith in the Professor to make it all go away. The central characters in each ghostly tale, Tony Matthews, Mike Priddle and Simon Rifkind, were very well-performed by David Cardy, Clive Mantle and Andy Room respectively (also the Associate Director).
Suspense is built, tension relaxed by brief comic relief, before a punch to the gut that never quite comes in the way you’d expect (or, when it does, it’s effectively done and nevertheless terrifying). We are lulled time and time again into a false sense of security, as flimsy and transparent as the safety curtain which rises and falls between tales.
While I can’t divulge the nature of the Ghost Stories in question, I can tell you that each and every one is bone-chilling, well-acted and expertly paced, centring on believable and largely likeable characters in scenarios that make us squirm in discomfort. More than once comes an audible ‘nope’ from the audience, as our characters head for that dark door, or investigate that strange creak.
Naysayers argue the show relies too heavily on such well-worn horror cliches, exploiting our fears of broken down cars, empty nurseries and things that go bump in the night. To those sceptics I say that these tropes exist for a reason: they scare us deeply and profoundly. And personally, I was most certainly deeply and profoundly scared, proving that however well we understand the mechanisms behind our minds, we are equally powerless to their influence.
But, alongside the post-show cocktails we had at a local bar, too wired to go home straight away, it left us chewing over the questions it asked of us. Which is more comforting: belief in the supernatural or belief in its absence? Are there earthly forms of eternal torment more terrifying than those presented in religion? The play deftly navigates these complex issues of the supernatural, judgement and religion’s role (or lack thereof) in morality, without coming down too strongly on one side or the other. This is what, for me, stood it apart from other similar ghostly productions on the West End (which shall remain nameless); Ghost Stories had meaningful substance behind its ghostly sheets.
So, whether you’re looking for a play that makes you think, or simply shriek in genuine terror, you will find a little of both at Ghost Stories’ UK Tour: playing at Theatre Royal from July 8 to 12.
Tickets: ATG Tickets
