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Old 07-24-2010, 07:19 AM   #1
Sundae
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Ghost Stories (Play) Review

This is less a review of a play, and more about my trip to see it. See below for reasons.
Details of the show, who is in it, what the history is, who the Lighting Director is etc can be found here.

On Thursday I went to London to see Ghost Stories.
Planned and budgeted for BEFORE the benefit cancellation obviously.
And I was damned if I was going to cancel it when what I really needed was a good opportunity to scream. And I did. Four times. Well, five if you count the fact I screamed twice at one shock - two little screams as I drew breath. That really impressed me.

Even though it is unlikely that 99.99 (recurring) people here will ever see Ghost Stories, I will respect their request not to post spoilers or indeed any details online. After all there is a small chance someone searching the t'internet might find us. One day. Buried as we are. Buried alive.
So this reveals nothing of the stories, settings or characters apart from my reaction to them.


So here are some non-spoilery things. That you can't research yourself.
When you enter the theatre the walls are all wrapped in warning tape, flickering lights in cages buzz and hum - wires taped to the walls - there is a sound of dripping and the moaning of wind, random numbers chalked everywhere. It all creates a general feeling of unease, especially for me, sensitive (skittish) as I am.

I sat next to a lovely woman previously from Melbourne, now living in Devon. A long trip either way.
I told her I had friends in Brisbane, Victoria and Adelaide, but oddly enough she didn't think she knew them.
I admitted to being a screamer, and luckily she was spooked too, so I didn't need to feel ashamed.
Only exchanged a few words with the American woman on the other side of me. Then again, perhaps she was Canadian and therefore keeping a low profile.

The show opens with Andy Nyman (hero of mine) as the narrator. He's not the sveltest of figures anyway - more like my ideal body type - but the boxy brown corduroy suit he was wearing made him look super short and wide.

In character he talked us through the format: three stories which had made even him - a sceptical parapsychologist - wonder if perhaps there was more to this world than meets the eye. He was funny and personable. The lines were well scripted and I could definitely hear Dyson's influence.

The first story probably had the spookiest setting. I was constantly on edge waiting for something to happen, my hands over my mouth and my throat. This was the story that gave me the double scream.

The second story featured a man who really reminded me of Reece Shearsmith - I wonder if Jeremy had him in mind when he wrote it. The character is much younger than Reece though (think Matthew in The League of Gentleman Christmas Special and you'll see why it wouldn't work!) I'll have to find out exactly where he's from, my guess at the North-East might be well off.

The third stars Nicholas Burns - a surprise to me as I've deliberately steered clear of reviews, wanting to come to the show in as much ignorance as possible. I've mentioned Burns in other posts regardly the award winning series Benidorm (sitcom), supernatural drama Misfits and the heartbreakingly brief superhero sitcom No Heroics. Oh and Nathan Barley, Dana sez.
Burns' story feeds into the end of the show.

Was I scared at the time?
Hell, yes!
It could only have pressed my panic buttons more by featuring mirrors. Tricky on stage.
One or two of my other flashpoints were definitely there.
It was well acted, well paced, well scripted and I was well satisfied, innit.
Funny, spooky, involving misdirection and intelligent twists, occasionally predictable but more often surprising. And great at ramping up the atmosphere until you think you've seen more than you have. And keeping you in such suspense that you'll jump at anything... and then they produce something worth jumping at.

No, it's not as scary as the hype makes out.
The scariest things are that the show runs for a solid 80 minutes, no interval and there are only four cubicles in the Ladies toilets for two floors of the theatre. Oh and the bar prices (I nipped out to the shop next door as I arrived early). Even over-priced London convenience stores don't charge £4.50 for a bottle of beer. Still, that's the West End.

But it's certainly the scariest thing I've seen in a long while, and while I wasn't scared to go home and sleep, it did get the adreneline pumping enough that I'd have been glad of a companion. And he'd have had a really good night

Interview from when the play opened in Liverpool.
I could listen to Jeremy talk all day - if he brought out an audio book of the Bible I'd probably buy it... But it's a pretty good interview even for non-fans.

Later interview when it transferred to the Lyric, Hammersmith (think off-West End) It pretty much goes over the same ground, but more briefly.

Last edited by Sundae; 07-24-2010 at 07:44 AM. Reason: A few corrections and typos
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Old 07-24-2010, 08:49 AM   #2
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Quote:
I sat next to a lovely woman previously from Melbourne, now living in Devon. A long trip either way.
I told her I had friends in Brisbane, Victoria and Adelaide, but oddly enough she didn't think she knew them.
******
Only exchanged a few words with the American woman on the other side of me. Then again, perhaps she was Canadian and therefore keeping a low profile.
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Old 07-24-2010, 09:13 AM   #3
Shawnee123
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I want to see this! I love to be scared out of my wits.
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Old 07-24-2010, 12:56 PM   #4
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That's only a play and I bet it's scarier than the lame Paranormal Activity movie.
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Old 09-29-2011, 01:33 PM   #5
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Tailgating, but I just have to say I am SICKENED! by my inability to watch anything online tonight.
I may not be catching up with anything particularly worthwhile (How to Save the Life of an Abandoned Duckling et al) but I am trying to keep peace in the house at a trying time by watching things online rather than having Sky+ recording clashes.

NOTHING is working. Not Channel 5 On Demand, You Tube or any other clips - however brief. And no, buffering is not working either.

It's a conspiracy. Obviously.
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Old 09-29-2011, 01:35 PM   #6
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You with BT?
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Old 09-29-2011, 01:37 PM   #7
Sundae
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Shoot - that post was s'posed to go in the Irritated thread!
FSM knows where I put my pen...

Nah, the 'rents are on TalkTalk.
This is unusual.
Actually, has never happened before - at least not for this long.
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Old 09-29-2011, 01:49 PM   #8
DanaC
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Odd. Would have made sense if it'd been BT. They're bastards for thottling during peak times.

Maybe there's fault somewhere.
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Old 09-29-2011, 01:55 PM   #9
Sundae
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But it's only slow on videos!
(there is probably a more up to date term re online visuals, but you get what I mean).

The Cellar and Hotmail and Ebay other sites are fine, not sluggish at all.
And this has been a problem since 15.00 - which isn't generally a peak time.

Good suggestion, just doesn't answer in this case

ETA - it's just not buffering!
I'm used to pausing and coming back later, but it's making no difference tonight.
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Old 09-29-2011, 02:49 PM   #10
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That's weird.

Wonder if you're missing an update or something.

Maybe one our resident techheads would know? Might be worth posting as a help thread.
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Old 09-29-2011, 02:54 PM   #11
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Will see how it goes.
I've been randomly locked out of the Cellar before, with no real reason - UT himself didn't know why.

If I'm still S.L.O.W. I'll ask. Or get my bro to check. He comes back from the US in two weeks. And he has to talk to me or he doesn't get his birfday prize
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Old 05-18-2014, 01:34 PM   #12
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I haven't written up my trip to London with Mum because I didn't have a camera and I can't help missing it when making commentary here.
But I can review my second viewing of Ghost Stories, given that photos would not have been possible anyway.

I was slightly disappointed when we arrived; it was a smaller venue than the one I'd first seen it in and the theatre was still only half full. I worry for Mssrs Nyman and Dyson. But then it was a Tuesday out of tourist season I suppose.

Anyway, it meant Mum & I could swap seats slightly. We we two seats in, and instead we could sit on the aisle, so I could stretch my (long, attractive) legs and Mum had somewhere to stash her bag and jacket. Knowing it was 80-90 minutes with no interval I made sure Mum and I were well toileted before the show started.

The atmosphere was nowhere near as creepy as when I went to see it previously. Then again I was in the Stalls, which meant heading down into what felt like the basement. This time we were in the first row of the Circle.

There was a slightly rowdy crowd at the front. Great, I thought, they will talk and laugh and catcall and diffuse all the moments of tension. Oh no. They came under the play's spell. I mean yes, there is humour in there. And not all gallows humour. Both Dyson and Nyman are masters at making you laugh all the better to scare the pants off you.

Poor Mum.
She thought I would be an old jaded hand at this. I didn't only scream this time, I actually roared in shock at one point. And I don't mean like Katy Perry (ask Dana) I mean a sound of instinctive shock. Every type of scare possible on stage. Simple but clever special effects. And very good verbal dissimulation which I may have picked up on because I'd seen it before, or because I've watched so much Derren Brown.

Turns out they had tweaked the stories to some extent. So the scares came at different points, for different reasons, or just with better effects.

Goodness me it was worth the money. I'm just glad I bought the tickets when they we a mild indulgence, before everything changed and they became a ridiculous luxury.
Mum said, "Well it's not anything I would have chosen to see, but it was nice for a change."

Glad she got to experience it in that case.
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