GHOST STORIES WITH MARK GATISS (Nottingham Playhouse)***

   

By Dave

Link: https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/watch-ghost-stories-on-demand

Available until: 17th June 2021. You can watch on demand at any time and the rental period is five days.

Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough were both excellent in the National Theatre’s production of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III, which was streamed for free on YouTube by the National Theatre earlier in the pandemic.

When the planned guest for Ghost Stories with Mark Gatiss, Jade Anouka, withdrew due to unforeseen circumstances, Mark’s National Theatre co-star was recruited in her place. It’s a shame not to see Jade as she’s a very talented and versatile performer but as late replacements go, the Nottingham Playhouse haven’t done too badly.

Four ghost stories are read aloud, followed by a poem. Director Mark Penfold has set up the stage with two socially distanced chairs, one for each actor, and a lectern where the stories are set up. They stand at the lectern to read aloud, then they return to their seat. It does look a bit formal which is maybe a bit at odds with the idea of a ghost story which is usually told to your mates in the dark (at least, that’s how it was 30 years ago) but there are at least three great stories and they’re all read clearly and fluently.

The first story is The Red Room by H. G. Wells. A man decides to spend the night in a room which is said to be haunted. He doesn’t think it is but he soon realises something funny is going on. Mark has a lovely voice and he reads the story clearly but he doesn’t go that deeply into the emotions. He is reading us a story rather than acting it out or creating a sense of atmosphere. But if all you want is to hear the story, Mark is great.

Next up is Harry by Rosemary Timperley. It’s about a five year old girl called Christine who has an imaginary friend. Nothing weird about that but Christine’s mum thinks there’s a bit more to this than a child’s games. The story is told from the point of view of a woman and that is probably why the original plan was for Mark’s guest to be female but Adrian never makes me feel as though we’re missing anything. His characterisation is brilliant. He voices characters of different genders, ages and class and is good at all of them. It’s a really emotional story and Adrian brings that out brilliantly.

Mark returns to the lectern to read The Patter of Tiny Feet by Nigel Kneale, the story of a reporter who investigates paranormal phenomena. It’s not a bad story but it never had any real sense of danger and I wasn’t really gripped by but it was interesting to hear a story which I’d never heard of.

Long Distance Call by Richard Matheson is read by Adrian. It’s about a bedridden elderly lady who keeps receiving strange phone calls. At first the calls are silent which is worrying enough but then a voice starts to speak. Great characterisation again, apparently faultless accent and a real sense of creepiness.

To close the evening, Mark reads a poem – Antigonish by William Hughes Mearns. I knew the poem, I first heard it at infant school but I never knew the title. Mark reads it really well and it’s a great choice because it’s amusing but creepy at the same time. So if you want to end the evening on a lighter note you can. If you want more creepiness, just think about what the words are really about.

A really interesting choice of stories, read by two great actors.