The Ghost Stories of M R James
Review by Martine Silkstone
One thing I love about theatre is its infinite variety - there is always something new to experience and enjoy.
For example…
Last night I was invited to see The Bury St Edmunds Broadcasting Co performance of ‘M R James’ Ghost Stories’ at the town’s Unitarian Meeting House.
Set up in the format of a radio play, this was, for me, a new venue, a new theatrical company and a new kind of production. So exciting!
And on the whole a wonderful show.
A cast of (I think) 10 actors (many from the fabulous Bury St Edmunds Operatic and Dramatic Society) performed six of the Suffolk author’s classic scary tales: The Mezzotint, Casting the Runes, The Tractate Middoth, A Warning to the Curious, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral and Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad.
Surrounded by flickering candles and supported by mood lighting and appropriately spooky sound effects, each actor took on a variety of roles and accents, thrilling us with these chilling tales. I especially loved Chris Eyden as our host - M R James himself. Introducing each story and occasionally closing them with a dark epilogue, he really set the tone for the evening and held the whole thing together.
Meanwhile, the individual stories were well-adapted by writer Jessica Rose Hughes, and you couldn’t have asked for a better venue than the intimate and historic Unitarian Meeting House.
Yes, it really was the perfect entertainment for Halloween weekend.
Now, all that said, I think it could have worked better without the last two stories. The first hour and a half whizzed by, despite the rather uncomfortable chairs, and included my personal favourite - The Mezzotint. Thoroughly entertaining and well performed - bravo to all.
But after that, I was done.
I didn’t look forward to taking that rather uncomfortable seat again after the brief interval, and didn’t need any more stories - I was very happy to call it a day and simply ‘sit’ with what I had already seen.
The initial details of the show outlined just one and a half hours with no interval, and for the sake of focus - and comfort - I think it would have been better if they had stuck with that original idea. Nothing against the last two performances at all - I was just replete and ready for bed.
(Though I appreciate that may say more about me and my bad back than anything else.)
They also need to have the director/sound man (I’m not sure who it was) in another room. His constant chatter and stage direction at the back of the room was very distracting - as many others in the room commented. With this kind of production, its success rests on the audience being drawn into the story by the voices performing and that is simply not possible when someone else is also talking behind you. I think we have probably all experienced that kind of thing at the cinema too - very annoying. Of course, I suspect it was a space issue - the room was quite small - but perhaps there is a solution to be found. Certainly it’s worth a try.
But these are minor tweaks and something they can easily address before they return with the production in December, along with their version of ‘A Christmas Carol’.
I know I’m already looking forward to it.
Note: This is a group of talented friends who have come together to perform shows for charity, and this performance was a fundraising event for The Abbey of St Edmunds Heritage Partnership Project.
The Ghost Stories of M R James returns to the Unitarian Meeting House on 13-14 December (shows at 5pm).
FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE
A Christmas Carol is at the Unitarian Meeting House on 13-14 December (shows at 8pm).
FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE