Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Writer & Director: Ryan Simons
“Horror Homage”
4 / 5
The Metropol cinema used to be thriving – but has since been abandoned, and years of it being derelict has led it to be scheduled for demolition. Herbert is attached to the Metropol, filled with childhood memories from when his father used to work there. Not all of his memories there are good ones, but he can’t resist visiting just one last time.
Fans of horror unite – because this spooky show is touring the UK just in time for Halloween season. It’s notoriously hard to stage a genuinely scary play on stage, with only some (such as one of the shows influences – ‘The Woman in Black’) being successful in haunting the audience. Thankfully, Ryan Simons is up to the task, showcasing his clear passion for the genre in this wonderful horror homage. Combining live performance and projected video scenes works brilliantly in immersing the audience into the storyline.
The narrative focuses on Herbert (Alex Moran) as he takes a trip back to the Metropol before it is destroyed forever. He reminisces about his alcoholic father, who had a penchant for horror movies – his eagerness to bond with him and impress him evident from the offset. His mentally ill mother was constantly petrified of the darkness in the walls, so scared that a priest would regularly visit in the hope of exorcising the space and freeing her of her afflictions. Herbert is obsessed with making his own movies, addicted to the thrill of shocking and scaring his audience – with this one being his best yet.
Moran does well at capturing the audience for the 90-minute show – his pacing well-rehearsed in building suspense and sustaining the creepy atmosphere he creates with his slick storytelling. As the narrative progresses the audience are slowly given more keys to Moran’s past – utilising the video to provide snapshots of his childhood. These projections are almost like cut-scenes in a video game – brief, but detailed, giving the audience a perfect amount of information before returning to the main story at hand. While there aren’t too many jump scares – the ones that are incorporated are successful in spooking the audience, alongside other creepy additions such as ghostly figures in the distance and a doll coming to life for a brief (and quite comical) few scenes in the second half.
Some small details could be lost at points due to the fleeting nature – at points there are wandering hands in the wall and something rustling in a cupboard on stage as Moran is running through his lines, that depending on where you are sat in the theatre, could be completely missed – but these really help to elevate the haunting atmosphere and so would be great to ensure everyone has a chance to see everything on stage. Although, it could just be that Churchill Theatre is haunted and these weren’t part of the show at all which is a plausible possibility the more I think about it! Ethan Cheek’s set design immediately catches attention – the run-down cinema an excellent setting for a show – utilised cleverly with the addition of the ‘back room’ behind a white sheet to create an extra location, which is used to perfection throughout the second act.
Simons is obviously a horror buff – with various references, some outright such as the speech about The Shining conspiracy, others there as a nod to popular scenes such as the red balloon from IT. But although this pays tribute to some of the most highly regarded works from the genre – it still manages to keep its own individual identity woven through the well-written script. A spooktastic success from this paranormal production.
Runs Until 30 September 2023 then continues to tour
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