Post by joem on Jan 7, 2023 23:20:13 GMT
When did ghost/horror stories become such an intrinsic part of Christmas? Was it the old MR James stories on the BBC, or does the tradition predate this? Is Dickens single-handedly responsible for this because of "A Christmas Carol"? Whatever the answer over the last few years the amount of spooky stuff in our theatres in the weeks around Xmas seems to have exploded.
In the case of the fringe and theatres on a budget you can understand the appeal - very often these dramatisations require small casts and little in the way of staging and scenery as the tales involved are usually highly descriptive in content and of a psychological nature, not requiring expensive special effects or fire-breathing monsters.
So it was with these three stories (well, two stories and a poem) adapted, performed and directed by Stephen Smith. "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Raven" are all well-known, archetypal Poe works and are comfortably suited to a one-man telling and enactment. Smith tells the stories, does other voices when needed and makes himself up for the parts on stage between stories. A competent, commtted and engaging performance which any fan of the genre would have enjoyed.
In the case of the fringe and theatres on a budget you can understand the appeal - very often these dramatisations require small casts and little in the way of staging and scenery as the tales involved are usually highly descriptive in content and of a psychological nature, not requiring expensive special effects or fire-breathing monsters.
So it was with these three stories (well, two stories and a poem) adapted, performed and directed by Stephen Smith. "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Raven" are all well-known, archetypal Poe works and are comfortably suited to a one-man telling and enactment. Smith tells the stories, does other voices when needed and makes himself up for the parts on stage between stories. A competent, commtted and engaging performance which any fan of the genre would have enjoyed.
