REVIEW: Ghost Stories at Mayflower Theatre

What are you scared of? What is it that keeps you up at night? Maybe it’s a scary story? Or perhaps ghost stories? The record breaking ‘Ghost Stories’ that took the West-End by storm has made its way into Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre this week, and let’s just say there’s something spooky in the air. ‘Ghost Stories’ is a one act horror play written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, that in my opinion acts like a little love letter to horror plays and films that have come before it. This play is meant to scare you. It’s meant to make you question your own beliefs. It’s meant to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is actually going to be quite an easy review because from the moment you walk into the auditorium, your experience begins. There’s no photos allowed and the secrets of what you see are to be kept as secrets! So shhhhhh…

To avoid giving anything away, I won’t give you a general rundown of the story as I usually do - but I will give you the general layout and inspiration instead. The idea of ‘Ghost Stories’ came by when Andy Nyman walked past a theatre that had housed ‘The Woman in Black’ for 30 years before thinking that nobody had produced a horror play since this. From this point, he got talking with his friend Jeremy Dyson, to write a play that had 3 narrators each telling ghost stories on stage. Each of these stories are inspired by a famous horror movie, including ‘Screams of a Winter Night’, ‘Don’t Look Now', and 'The Ring'. Like I said, at the end of the play there is a message asking the audience to, “Keep the secrets of Ghost Stories”, which is exactly what I’m going to do. All I will tell you is that we follow a Professor Dr. Goodman who is delivering a lecture on ghost stories to us. He has recorded interviews with 3 people who each have had a different supernatural experience. We hear these recordings and see them play out, before the stories are all drawn together before a twist that I actually didn’t see coming.

When it comes to the cast, there is only a cast of 4 people - and they were all great. Dan Tetsell as ‘Professor Goodman’ was fantastic. He played the the 4th-wall-breaking, teacher archetype very very well. The transition from lecture to stories was very clever and I also think this is a big part on Tetsell’s performance. David Cardy as ‘Tony Matthews’ played what I like to reference as the perfect ‘life-character’. This is a character that is fictional but doesn’t feel like a character at all. The thoughts of this character are the same as what the audience is thinking - almost as if he could be a member of the public or audience himself. In a story like this it helps break the tension and input a bit of comedy and natural feeling. Cardy perfected this and I have no notes on his performance. Next was Lucas Albion as ‘Simon Rifkind’. Simon played the awkward, nervous, and anxious teen - and boy did he play him well. His body language acting, as well as speech, were giving major ‘Evan Hansen’ vibes. Albion was again able to build the tension in the story whilst also adding a bit of comedy and normality for the audience to be able to relate to as well. Finally we had Clive Mantle who played the role of ‘Mike Priddle’. This character is your busy-body business man that never has an off switch from work. Mantle was just fantastic at portraying this character - you really felt the urgency come across which once again, only built the tension within the auditorium.

When it comes to design and production, I was seriously impressed. You can definitely see why this play was a big hit on the West-End for such a long time! Again I don’t want to give too much away, but there is so many dynamic moving pieces - and this set was just made for the big stage. I like how it would seamlessly flip from what you see above - of a safety curtain in a theatre where the professor is giving his lecture, transitioning perfectly into the flashbacks of the interviews (or ‘Ghost Stories’). The lighting and ambience from when you first step into the auditorium is great. There’s flickering lights, music that has come straight from a classic horror movie, and just an overall sense of fear throughout the theatre. Jon Bausor (set & costume designer), James Farncombe (lighting designer), and Nick Manning (sound designer) - have put together the perfect trio that on their own may not create that much of a scary effect - but together create this amazing sense of tension.

There is so much I could talk about when referencing this play - but its one that I just can’t mention in fear of giving anything away. Even in all of the marketing for the show, there are no set pictures, no cast photos (as such) - it is all basically audience reaction that drives what this show is. The element of mystery and surprise! So I won’t take that away from you.

‘Ghost Stories’ is around 80-90 minutes long and is it scary? Well, yes. If jump scares and paranormal stories are your thing, then ‘Ghost Stories’ is for you. If you’re a fan of horror, or horror experiences - something that gets your heart rate rising and blood flowing, then this is also for you. I feel like with plays such as this one, it is all about immersion. Dyson and Nyman have a created a piece of theatre for the consumer to immerse themselves in and lose themselves in what they’re watching. So with that said, you only really get out of a play like this, what you put in. Are you willing to fully immerse yourself in the play, or are you here to watch on a technical level?

I was unaware of what I was really coming into with ‘Ghost Stories’ as there is nothing to really read up on or watch before hand. The play is about the element of surprise and what surprised me was the strength of the narrative. Was there predictability in what was about to happen? Yes, its inevitable with subject matter such as horror - but it was the twists and turns that got me thinking, this is actually quite clever. The pacing may have been a bit slow in areas with not a lot going on, but again this is all in aid of building tension only a knife could cut. My top tip if you’re heading to watch ‘Ghost Stories’ is  to let yourself be lost in the moment - immerse yourself in the story and I think you will get the most out of your experience.

‘Ghost Stories’ is at Mayflower Theatre until 28th June before continuing on its UK tour, ending with a halloween season on the West-End. Are you brave enough to grab yourself some tickets? I’m sure Mayflower will be keeping their ghost light on this week!