Post by joem on Sept 2, 2021 21:37:17 GMT
'Tis the season to be chilled and scared out of your wits! Or so it would seem from the sudden glut of ghost stories on offer on the London stage at the moment.
Actually, I do have a problem with the genre on stage, much as I love reading ghost stories, watching horror movies and fondly remember Vincent Price on the radio doing Edgar Allan Poe etc. The problem is very simple, old-style horror is in the mind more than in what is seen. It is in anticipation, in the fear as you sit by yourself in the dark while the wind howls outside your lonely abode that, however preposterous what you're reading might be, who knows what may be out there and there's no-one to save you..... or the tricks which camera and music can play on you when you're watching superior horror stuff in a film.
The theatre does not have these weapons to command. Effects which can startle you in a film are limited by what is possible and often come out as phony. So we resort to loud bangs and flickering lights and being told about other characters being very scared, rather than being scared ourselves.
Case in point here - I forget how many times the words "chill" "chilling" "chilled" were said. Basically a two-hander with one character who is sceptical of the supernatural being told various ghost stories by a convinced writer. Nice set, decent twist but I've been more frightened watching football sometimes.
However if you enjoy the likes of the stage version of "The Woman In Black", "Ghost Stories", "The Weir" etc.... you will enjoy this play written and directed by Paul Morrissey.
Actually, I do have a problem with the genre on stage, much as I love reading ghost stories, watching horror movies and fondly remember Vincent Price on the radio doing Edgar Allan Poe etc. The problem is very simple, old-style horror is in the mind more than in what is seen. It is in anticipation, in the fear as you sit by yourself in the dark while the wind howls outside your lonely abode that, however preposterous what you're reading might be, who knows what may be out there and there's no-one to save you..... or the tricks which camera and music can play on you when you're watching superior horror stuff in a film.
The theatre does not have these weapons to command. Effects which can startle you in a film are limited by what is possible and often come out as phony. So we resort to loud bangs and flickering lights and being told about other characters being very scared, rather than being scared ourselves.
Case in point here - I forget how many times the words "chill" "chilling" "chilled" were said. Basically a two-hander with one character who is sceptical of the supernatural being told various ghost stories by a convinced writer. Nice set, decent twist but I've been more frightened watching football sometimes.
However if you enjoy the likes of the stage version of "The Woman In Black", "Ghost Stories", "The Weir" etc.... you will enjoy this play written and directed by Paul Morrissey.
