Grand Opera House York- until 14 March 2020
Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
5*****
Celebrating its 10th year on stage, Ghost Stories has even had the share of the silver screen. It claims to be the scariest show ever performed, with its age rating of 15 to back this up. Touring the UK, bringing screams and terror to 16 different cities, with the most haunted city in England, York, being in the middle of the run. York is known for its expansive history, with its fair share of death, torture, and supernatural happenings.
The show starts off as a lecture, nothing spooky or spine chilling so far, as Professor Goodman, played by Joshua Higgott, gave us a seminar on the paranormal and showed photos that he claims to be real. He then goes on to explain that there are three different cases of paranormal activity that he struggles to disprove. The first of which being that of a security guard on a nightshift. Tony Matthews, played by Paul Hawkyard, a straight up ‘man’s man’, retells his own experience. Hawkyard had the audience silent, laughing and also screaming. Having the stage to himself for a while, we as the audience felt alone, the only light coming from a small bulb that lit up the office he was in.
The second story told, was that of Simon Rifkind, played by Gus Gordon, a young man driving home from a party on night.
The third and final story is that of Mike Priddle, played by Richard Sutton, as a well-off businessman. Things appear to go alright for the most part, and Priddle seems total unaffected events that ultimately occur.
All these stories are harrowing in themselves, but is there any connection or are they just pure coincidence? The cast does a good job of making sure we are on the edge of our seats every moment of the show. The show is well thought out, from lighting to the audience being in total pitch black. There was also the use of sound, something that I picked up on very early, and that creeped me out the most.
I love when a show has this much attention to detail, it really pays off and creates, not just a stage show, but a whole entire experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, Ghost Stories is right up my street, and I’m sure many others will enjoy the show as well.
One thing I do have to note is the amount of younger adults at theatre, something that I rarely see when reviewing shows, which is a hopeful sight. A lot of the audience was screaming, laughing and flinching, which is a good sign, the show got what it wanted. Prepared to be shocked at the twist and turns.
Ghost Stories will be on at the York Grand Opera House until the 14th of March.