By Cal
Link: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/8/the-haunting-of-alice-bowles
Available until: 28th
February 2021
The Haunting of
Alice Bowles is based on The
Experiment, a short story by M. R. James. Not to be confused with P. D.
James or E. L. James. M. R. James was an author of classic ghost stories which
were published in the early twentieth century. P. D. James wrote modern
detective stories in the second half of the twentieth century and early
twenty-first. E. L. James… we don’t need to go into that now.
The play (or perhaps it’s more of a film) makes some changes to the story. The original story is set in the past and it’s thought that the illness referred to might be the Bubonic plague. The play is set partly in the current coronavirus climate and partly at the time of what is known as the Spanish Flu, though it didn’t actually originate in Spain.
In the present, Matt and his partner
Caitlin are in lockdown together and have been posting videos on youtube. In
the past, Alice Bowles’ husband has died, leaving no money that anyone can find
anywhere, even though he was thought to be rich. Matt and Caitlin hear about
Alice’s story and are intrigued by it.
Tamzin Outhwaite has a powerful screen
presence as the resolute Alice, while Jack Archer does well as her frightened
son Joseph, who suddenly finds himself involved in something he doesn’t
understand and really doesn’t want to.
Poppy Roe, who appeared in Original
Theatre’s brilliant Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon, here plays the
gossiping Mrs Ivey. Philip Franks, who played the older Jim Lovell in the same
production, wrote the script for The Haunting of Alice Bowles, as well
as directing the piece alongside Alastair Whatley, the artistic director of
Original Theatre.
The ghost story is written really well
and it’s been adapted really cleverly. The characters have been developed,
particularly Alice and Joseph, and I really like the way the character of the
Boatman (Tim Treloar) has been changed. He gives the play a bit of dark humour
which really adds to the feeling of unease which slowly builds through Alice
and Joseph’s scenes.
The direction is also excellent. The
filming looks very professional and you wouldn’t have guessed the actors had
mostly done it themselves. I really like the way the non-spoken scenes are done
– the actors are really allowed to take their time with what they do, which
raises both our interest and the tension. There are lots of little moments to
intrigue us, as well as some wonderfully atmospheric background music. At
times, the scenes set in the past reminded me of a Hercule Poirot or a Sherlock
Holmes story.
However, the addition of the youtube
couple, while giving the story more of a contemporary twist, doesn’t work quite
so well for me. It moves us away from the heart of the real drama and watching
a couple of quarrelling millennials (yes, all right: I couldn’t be any more of
a millennial considering I was born in 2000) and their shallow lifestyle (yes,
all right: youtube videos are basically spoken blogs) doesn’t have quite the
same impact as watching a mother and a son who are terrified that the woman’s
husband might come back from the dead. Max Bowden and Alexandra Guelff do their
best, but their storyline can’t really compete with Alice and Joseph’s. The
storylines are brought together very effectively at the end, but I can’t help
feeling Matt and Caitlin needed more to do.
But it’s another fascinating
production from Original Theatre. One reason I like Original Theatre is that
they don’t just put on work which is new and original – they make each one
completely different and have covered a really impressive range of subjects. As
they’re so good at producing works for the screen, perhaps they’ll continue to
do that once their theatre has opened again. I would definitely be interested
in watching them.
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