Southampton Mayflower – until 25th October 2023
Reviewed by Lucy Hitchcock
4****
The west end triumph has come to Southampton for a week of laughter, fun and a lot of fear!
This 4 strong cast, with added support from 2 ensemble characters are superb-perfectly bridging the gap between reality and what lies deep beyond death. We see Jenny (Louisa Lytton), a tired but loving mother who, after moving into her new house with her husband Ben (Joe Absolom) experiences ghostly noises and movements scaring her chronic. She is a witty character, with Joie-de-vivre, executed well by Lytton. After moving into the house, at 2:22am, a strange thing happens. Noises of a man, weeping, sobbing even whilst walking round and round in a circular fashion. The room, is Jenny and Ben’s new baby’s nursery. Terrified after 4 long nights of this nightmare, they invite their friends Lauren and Sam (Charlene Boyd and Nathaniel Curtis ) over for dinner and persuade them (with a contest but copious amounts of wine to soften to blow!) to stay until 2:22 that morning to witness the horror and eventually, try to prove Ben – a long time non believer of what lies beyond, that this could actually be a ghost.
The foursome are tremendous – this felt exactly like we were watching a dinner party and was so natural that I was engrossed in the performance. So engrossed in fact, that at every scare I was physically jumping out of my seat and exhaling profusely with the fear!
Eventually, 2:22am arrives and the noises are heard-footsteps, cries and wails. But what it is, is another matter. Ben, having come back from a business trip away and losing his phone his, ‘I’ll have you know’ convinced that this is foxes mating In the garden, Whilst Jenny believes it is Frank, the husband of the widow who sold the house to the couple. When scary things start happening, like the kitchen setting on fire of its own accord and the baby’s bear being dosed in white spirits, it is abundantly clear that this is a malevolent entity, or is it?
This is a play that needs to be seen to be believed and I urge you to go along and discover what lies beyond the grave. This is fabulous and well deserved of every audience member who attends.