Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town. You can contact Lauren on [email protected].
Adam Z. Robinson, writer, performer and founding member of theatre company, The Book of Darkness and Light, loves a spooky tale.
And that is what we are promised with Unhomely: Three Tales of Terror, each thread, as the play’s title suggests, loosely based around the idea of home and its hidden horrors. Here, home is anything but homely.
It is a house, crumbling, Gothic-like, engulfed by a smoke-machine-induced fog, that provides the production’s backdrop, along with a ghostly score and dim lighting. As the play opens, we are given a choice: to stay, or to leave now, before it is too late…
Mirroring the play’s structure is its cast of three: writer Robinson himself narrates, and is joined by two players, Amy Helena and Brian Duffy, who perform using a combination of British Sign Language and Visual Vernacular, a physical theatre technique combining gestures, bodily expression and mime as a narrative tool.
Each cast member plays a myriad of characters, all the while ensuring clarity of delivery. Each tale feels distinct from the other, each presented and told in a slightly different way, and there is, at the play’s core, a real sense of classic storytelling. A multifaceted approach to this age-old practice injects a novel, attention-grabbing feel.
Yet, this spooky play isn’t altogether that spooky, marred, for me, by being too long. Each segment feels like a novella rather than a short story, and by the end, I felt like I’d endured a chunky, under-edited tome.
It also had a touch of the predictable about it, lacking the body and depth to make this a terrifying tale unlike anything we’ve ever seen or heard before.
The play’s storytelling is where its true potential lies, and in its ability to weave together inclusive narrative approaches. With some refinement, I’m sure it could deliver on its spooky promise to chill and thrill.
Unhomely: Three Tales of Terror is at Harrogate Theatre until Saturday, April 13.
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