CASTING THE RUNES Comes to Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre

Two tales by Edwardian scholar and mediaevalist MR James will come to Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre next month. The stories will be performed by candlelight at the theatre by Robert Lloyd Parry on Thursday 12 December. Robert has brought his candlelit versions of James's stories to the SJT for the last few Christmases, playing to sell-out houses.

In Casting the Runes we meet the unforgettable Abbot of Lufford, Mr Karswell: magic lanternist, historian of the occult, and scourge of the academic establishment. The story is perhaps best known for being the source for the classic 1950s horror film Night of the Demon. It's partnered by one of James's most neglected masterpieces, The Residence at Whitminster, in which a dark shadow is cast over a peaceful English church.

 

The performances are part of Nunkie Theatre's MR James Project, which brings back to life the eeriest and most entertaining of James's enduringly brilliant tales, many of which were originally written to be performed by the author to his friends in his rooms in King's College, Cambridge, on Christmas Eves in the years leading up to World War I.  

To post a comment, you must register and login.