Category Archives: Reviews

HAUNTED SHADOWS

★★★

White Bear Theatre

HAUNTED SHADOWS

White Bear Theatre

★★★

“Claire Louise Amias delivers a committed central performance, commanding the space”

Great for cold and dark winter nights, Haunted Shadows brings three Victorian and early-twentieth-century gothic tales to life, thanks to stage adaptations by performer Claire Louise Amias and director Jonathan Rigby, supported by research associate Elliott Amias. More famous for The Railway Children, mentioned in a comedic passing reference, Edith Nesbit also penned a great many horror stories, three of which are presented here.

Leaning into the spookiness of the source material, the show is replete with eerie coloured lighting changes, designed by Steve Lowe, that mimic the descent of darkness or the breaking of dawn, or to evoke the distressed mental state of the narrators of the stories. The lighting occasionally has the feel of a torch held under the chin – characteristic of many a campfire ghost storytelling – and works extremely well in this context. In combination with the grisly sound effects (knives, demonic breathing), the work of sound designer Keri Chesser, these elements add to the over-the-top theatre of the performance, eliciting thrilled laughter the audience.

Claire Louise Amias delivers a committed central performance, commanding the space around the spare staging consisting of a chair with dolls and a trunk from which she takes the props – a shawl, a decorative ribbon – that serve to accessorise her austere black dress, the work of costume designer Anna Sorensen Sargent. Using little more that these props, she brings to life the narrators of three tales, as well as Edith Nesbit herself who is the storyteller of the framing narrative. While perhaps appearing a little under-rehearsed at times, she is nevertheless a compelling narrator and completely in-tune with the nature of the performance, complete with gasps and wide-eyed gazes of fright directed at the audience. Her delivery is strong, and her physical performance is also convincing. She embodies various characters as she relates with terror the events of the tales, recoiling at bodies and barely daring to look at apparitions.

The three tales themselves are interesting, as well as the stories from Edith’s youth which are presented as catalysing her interest in the macabre. To my mind the third story and final memory from childhood were the strongest, relying on the depravity committed by humans, rather than the malign supernatural forces that may or may not be the antagonists of other episodes. The final movement of the play also made some of the best use of the lighting design, with the flickering of a fire a particularly effective device to draw in the audience. I felt, however, that the payoff for the first tale could have been stronger, despite being aided the amusing use of caricatured evil of the ‘shadow sighs’.

Haunted Shadows is worth seeing for its Victorian atmosphere, played-for-comedy horror, and for its ability to return us to the ghost stories of childhood sleepovers.

 



HAUNTED SHADOWS

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed on 29th January 2025

by Rob Tomlinson

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

UNTIL SHE SLEEPS | ★★★ | November 2024
SEVEN DAYS IN THE LIFE OF SIMON LABROSSE | ★★★½ | October 2024
THE BOX | ★★★ | July 2024
JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION | ★★★ | February 2024
I FOUND MY HORN | ★★★★ | February 2023
THE MIDNIGHT SNACK | ★★★ | December 2022
THE SILENT WOMAN | ★★★★ | April 2022
US | ★★★★ | February 2022

HAUNTED SHADOWS

HAUNTED SHADOWS

HAUNTED SHADOWS

 

 

MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER

★★★★

Soho Theatre

MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“She’s the kind of person you want to hang out with. Someone you might meet in a club bathroom on a night out and follow around, desperate to be her friend”

Watching Amy Gledhill is like stepping into a warm bath. This show won the Edinburgh Fringe 2024 Best Show award and it’s no wonder. She is so in control and comfortable on stage that the audience can just let the waves of comedy wash over them. She’s a pro in action.

Gledhill walks out and shimmies, then sultrily asks the audience if they’d like to go to bed with her. The moment instantly turns ridiculous as she hands out knickers for the audience to throw at her in enthusiastic passion.

She balances natural charm with self-deprecating honesty, which make us instantly warm to her. She’s the kind of person you want to hang out with. Someone you might meet in a club bathroom on a night out and follow around, desperate to be her friend.

She welcomes the audience into her life, without shame. Well, almost without shame. There’s a moment where she tells a particularly blue anecdote and hides behind the stage curtain so we can’t look at her as she tells it. Of course, that makes everyone like her more.

Her quips, observations and wordplay are masterful but it’s her physical comedy which really has the audience in stitches. Whether that’s the humiliation of a Go Ape harness, how she’d look with a bumhole for a mouth, her jaunty pre-sex ritual, or the struggles of standing up on the top deck of a bus, she nails each one with gusto.

She is unafraid to poke fun at situations she finds herself in, but is never cruel to herself. Her impression of an internet troll who attacked her physical appearance is strangely empathetic, and with that, hilarious.

The show is not without some serious emotional punch. It’s an exploration of confidence and self-esteem and a couple of her revelations are heart breaking.

But no moment is in there without purpose. After a national tour and run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the show is a well-oiled machine. Each passing aside comes back around, nothing is unnecessary. The show, as well as being very funny, is an artfully constructed piece of work.



MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER

Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 28th January 2025

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Paul Gilbey

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SANTI & NAZ | ★★★★ | January 2025
BALL & BOE – FOR FOURTEEN NIGHTS ONLY | ★★★★ | December 2024
GINGER JOHNSON BLOWS OFF! | ★★★ | September 2024
COLIN HOULT: COLIN | ★★★★ | September 2024
VITAMIN D | ★★★★ | September 2024
THE DAO OF UNREPRESENTATIVE BRITISH CHINESE EXPERIENCE | ★★★★ | June 2024
BABY DINOSAUR | ★★★ | June 2024
JAZZ EMU | ★★★★★ | June 2024
BLIZZARD | ★★★★ | May 2024
BOYS ON THE VERGE OF TEARS | ★★★★ | April 2024
SPENCER JONES: MAKING FRIENDS | ★★★★ | April 2024
DON’T. MAKE. TEA. | ★★★★★ | March 2024

MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER

MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER

MAKE ME LOOK FIT ON THE POSTER