United Kingdom ThickSkin’s It Walks Around the House at Night: Southwark Playhouse, Borough, London, 9.3.3036. (BF)
Fresh from a run starting at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, Wigan’s ThickSkin presents a combination of ghost story and psychological thriller. Out-of-work actor Joe takes a job playing a ghost at an old countryside manor and then finds he is haunted himself, in a new play written by award-winning writer Tim Foley and directed by Neil Bettles.
Joe is scraping a living working in a bar, so when handsome stranger David offers him an extremely well-paid role he is glad to accept: he just has to circle the grounds of Paragon Hall (‘walk around the house’) at night in a ghost outfit. But then it seems he is not the only ghost out there – what, if anything, is going on?
Joe, narrator and protagonist is played by George Naylor. He carries most of the 90-minute drama single-handedly and magisterially, carrying the audience with him through his fluctuating fears with self-deprecating dark humour. Joe’s phone plays an important role as in vain he seeks help from his friends. He is supported eventually by the Dancer (Oliver Baines) and the voice of Paul Hilton who provide an explanation for the mystery (spoiler avoided here).
The themes covered by the story include class and sexuality – Joe is both awed and attracted by his handsome rich employer David, as well as conquered by the suspiciously (to the audience) large fee offered. These themes are intertwined with evocation of the ancient forces of nature, as trees and roots and the earth itself become malevolent: the god Pan of Greek mythology (the original source of ‘panic’) is referenced as Joe stumbles through the woodland in the dark.
To start with, the setting of the drama evokes the creepy horror story genre originated by M. R. James, with just the occasional slight hint of something off-key, hints that gradually increase in intensity. You never quite see anything, you don’t know what is real and what is supernatural or maybe merely Joe’s imagination – there are lights in the big house – or are there? If there are, should there be? Is there a rational explanation? Your unease increases. Then the production starts to ramp the unease up to the spine-tingle with lights and half-sights – did we just see knife-hands like Freddy Krueger’s? not enough time to look properly – that come and go, eerie music, stabs of sound, and classic horror-film jump scares till it reaches full Psycho. By the end and the epilogue, you are left shivering, shaken and stirred.
The chilling and haunting atmosphere is created by an impressive creative team. In addition to the multi-award-winning writer, Tim Foley, there is also multi-award-winning Pete Malkin on sound design, Joshua Pharo on lighting and video, Neil Bettles (who also directs) and Tom Robbins on set design: a back screen of tree trunks which move with shadows and a simply furnished bedroom for Joe which disappears with the all-important lighting. They all combine their talents cleverly to create Gothic gloom and those Psycho moments.
The production company ThickSkin prides itself on ‘extraordinary stories told in unexpected ways’, on ‘telling stories through quality, future-facing, multi-disciplined formats’ and on its ‘high-calibre creative teams’ – pride which is justified here. The company was established in 2010 by Neil Bettles and Laura Mallows, who continue to lead it. It says that from its base in Wigan, it seeks out and supports new talent, aiming to develop multi-disciplined artists of the future and to develop and launch new work for national and international touring.
This was a very good evening’s haunting, which made one grateful for the houselights and welcoming bar of the delightful little theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Borough.
The play is on until 28 March, for more information click here.
Barbara Ford
Featured Image: George Naylor’s haunting performance of Joe enhanced by clever lighting © Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Cast:
Joe – George Naylor
The Dancer – Oliver Baines
Featuring the voice of Paul Hilton
Creatives:
Writer – Tim Foley
Director – Neil Bettles
Set design – Neil Bettles & Tom Robbins
Lighting and Video design – Mark Dymock
Sound design – Joshua Pharo
Design associate (Costume) – Madison Omatseon
Associate Director – Anna Berentzen
Sound associate – Kieran Lucas
Dramaturg – Brendan Macdonald