I’d like to report that the Hampstead Theatre’s 50th Anniversary season is going out with a big successful bang. Unfortunately, although there are overhead thumps galore in the Sussex house where natural history professor Gabriel Stokes comes to write his anti-Darwin thesis, Michael Punter’s ghost story is unlikely to have you at the edge of your seat.
Stepping gamely into shoes unexpectedly vacated at the last minute, Tom Goodman-Hill is an austere and dignified presence as the widowed professor who believes in the bible but not the paranormal. Still grieving for his wife and child lost at sea 15 years earlier, he lends an air of gravitas to the proceedings.
In contrast, Julian Rhind-Tutt’s American spiritualist from Virginia sports a bright red frockcoat, dishevelled hair and a taste for the bottle as he attempts to summon the disruptively restless spirit.
There’s one surprising, chilling moment and the cavernous set, lit by ominously swaying chandeliers, is promisingly swathed in inky black. Yet, for the most part, this Victorian style tale of a mysteriously haunted house is a rather clunky, over fussy affair with too much detail and not enough spookiness. A levitating table is more laughable than scary, and despite the actors’ best efforts there’s nothing here to send shivers up your spine.
Hampstead, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU (
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