Do you believe in ghosts? This is the question with which we’re greeted in the very beginning of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories. With the notion of the scientific VS the supernatural at the forefront of this 90 minute long paranormal thriller, presented via three seemingly unrelated vignettes. And what these lack in payoff in and of themselves, they more than make up for in how they tie together, details of which I shan’t disclose at this time.
As we enter the auditorium, already Nick Manning’s sound design is manifesting itself. The pre-show soundscape proving fabulously eerie, with a distinct rumble, and ghoulish sound effects being played, already setting up a terrifically spooky atmosphere; and the solitary lectern in front of an old, tired looking safety curtain (not that of the venue) draws us in and piques our collective interest. The show starts and Professor Goodman (Dan Tetsell) enters via a public thoroughfare, proceeding to discuss ghosts, their origins, and how their integration into folklore and mythology has manifested itself over the centuries.
And whilst the discussion of ghosts originating in bible stories and medieval European settings is cute, this take seemingly completely nullifies the previous 9000 or so years worth of history, with zero reference to ancient Mesopotamia or Egypt where the first recorded mentions of ghosts can be found, which feels like significantly watering down, cutting up and condensing their origin story. This, thankfully, doesn’t take away from the proceeding trio of bite sized stories, and it was easy to be invested in what Tetsell was expressing, especially with how he incorporates audience participation, it just feels a little like writer-directors Dyson and Nyman pulling the wool over our eyes.
The actual stories themselves vary in both their subject matter and, sadly, their execution, but all three had a wonderful, discernible build of tension and suspense that Hitchcock would have been proud of, in which Manning’s audio, as well as lighting by James Farncombe, played a huge part. There were a couple of slightly messy moments with regards to the lighting, resulting in one or two climactic moments being fairly easy to see coming, however the general build over the course of each story was rather brilliant.
Performances from this intimate cast of four were, by and large, pretty solid; Tetsell tied everything together very well, and David Cardy as Tony gave as real a performance as you’ll see in such a setting, his build of fear and panic was excellent. Eddie Loodmer-Elliott and Clive Mantle each contributed brilliantly to their respective scenes, the latter in particular proving the catalyst in tying everything together, and helping make sense of what we’d just seen.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with horror theatre or film, the default for creators seems to be the use of jump-scares, for which Manning does have to shoulder some of the blame; for me, it’s a cheap way of eliciting a reaction from the audience, and for the most part, rather than being genuinely scared, which occasionally did occur, it just felt slightly arduous following that moment of dramatic sensory shift. And there were certainly occasions when the use of excessive volume just wasn’t necessary, especially as we entered the transition into the final scene, and we’re subjected to a superfluous cacophony that lasts for far too long.
All that said, though the penultimate scene does well to contextualise the three stories we’d just seen, it’s the final twist at the end, without giving anything away, that truly provides a fantastic payoff, and it’s one we absolutely don’t see coming. This is a play that isn’t without its issues, the three vignettes were all pretty formulaic and ultimately fairly predictable, however the way it builds suspense, and gives us a payoff at the end, makes up for this. Was I scared? Not really, but the special effects were generally impressive, and this material, though messy at times, was very well delivered all around.
Ghost Stories plays at The Lowry until 01st March.
★★★☆☆ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Hugo Glendinning
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