Every Christmas, M R James (1862 -1936) would write and perform ghost stories, to entertain friends in his rooms in King's College, Cambridge. Over a century later, these wintery tales still have the power to terrify and amuse.
Robert Lloyd Parry played M R James in Mark Gatiss's acclaimed BBC documentary Ghost Writer. Now, in three gripping one-man shows, he give theatregoers the opportunity to experience these eerie masterpieces in the manner in which they were originally enjoyed.
Monday 12 December, 7.30 pm, A Pleasing Terror
In Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book, a young antiquary discovers The Devil in the details of an old book in a medieval town in the French Pyrenees... In The Mezzotint a ghoulish revenge is enacted within a work of art, before the helpless eyes of a museum curator.
Monday 19 December, 7.30pm, Casting the Runes
In Casting the Runes we meet the unforgettable Mr. Karswell - magic lanternist, occult historian and scourge of academe. It's partnered here by James's most neglected masterpiece The Residence at Whitminster in which a dark shadow looms over the precinct of a peaceful English church...
Saturday 24 December, 5 pm, Oh Whistle...
Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to you, My Lad - a tale of nocturnal horror on the Suffolk coast - is widely considered to be author's masterpiece. It is beautifully complemented by The Ash Tree, a story of witchcraft and vengeance down the generations.
For more information visit www.nunkie.co.uk.
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