Review: MORE...GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT, Layer Marney Towers

As Halloween creeps closer, things are starting to get spooky. And, following a sell-out tour in 2023, Ghost Stories by Candlelight is back for More… 

Produced by East Anglian company HighTide, and directed by Emily Ling-Williams, this hour-long production stars two powerhouse performers (Becky Barry and Sharan Phull) who bring four eerie tales to life. Each fifteen-minute piece has been written by a ‘homegrown’, East Anglian-based playwright (Tassa Deparis, James McDermott, Eloise Pennycott, and Aisha Zia) who each bring their own dramatic styleto the table. Phull and Barry alternate narrating respectively, while the other creates ambience through instruments and vocals. 

Phull kicks off the evening with Tassa Deparis’ Lighthouse. Having recently lost her mother, we follow a grieving protagonist, as she experiences a supernatural encounter. Next, Barry brings us James McDermott’s Breath – a heart-breaking account of a mother and son reminiscing on the ghosts of their past during the Covid pandemic. Phull then returns with She by Aisha Zia – an equally gritty and witty tale of sexual assault and justice. Finally, Barry concludes the evening with Lover’s Gateby Eloise Pennycott – a queer romance with a dark twist, which might just be the strongest of the four stories.

Innovative semiotics are truly the production’s catalyst. Anna Pool’s repetitive folklore-reminiscent score weaves the four powerful pieces together exquisitely; the production’s composition perfectly compliments the writers’ poetic and rhythmic flair. The performers are lit predominantly by LED candles surrounding the outskirts of the stage, which provide a warm, hallowed glow when the main house lights are turned off at the beginning of the performance.

In theory, Layer Marney Towers was the perfect choice of venue for this production – the ambient rural building and historical interior created a ‘ghostly’ atmosphereright from the get-go. The performance room itself isintimate and eerily quiet, with Barry silently strumming her guitar while the audience take their seats.

Problems lie, however, with the staging and seating arrangement. Chairs are tightly packed together in many rows, in order to fit the large number of audience members. This arrangement poses as an issue to audience members sat towards the back of the space. Being unable to see both Phull and Barry numerous times throughout the performance, leads to a loss of intimacy and connection that is essential for a performance of this kind. By either reducing audience capacity, or raising the stage area, this problem may have been resolved. However, it must be noted that this problem may not apply to the tour’s other venues.

Despite site-specific obstacles, More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight is a beautifully written and performed medley of dark, gripping, poetic pieces. Becky Barry and Sharan Phull are a dazzling duo, supported by Anna Pool’s spine-tingling composition. The talented localplaywrights Deparis, McDermott, Zia, and Pennycott bring us distinctly different stories, yet all four are hauntingly real, raw, and relevant.

More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight is touring until 2 November

Photo Credit: Fourth Wall Photography

To post a comment, you must register and login.