Written and Directed by Ryan Simons

Illusion Design by John Bulleid

Review by Dominic Corr

Perth Theatre: Tickets

As the summer light fades, a nightmare unearths itself on the darkness of the stage in the form of Thunder Road Theatre’s Shock Horror: A Ghost Story. The multimedia horror show, which puts cinema right into the heart of theatre, kicks off its latest tour of the acclaimed show with its debut to Scottish audiences at the Perth Theatre– a much-welcome addition to the venue’s season and a slice of the Halloween macabre a few weeks early.

The once-grand Metropol Cinema: rotten, ashen, derelict. The only voices inside the screening rooms now are the creaking floorboards and banging doors. Well, that is except Herbet. Herbert’s affinity with the cinema goes beyond growing up in the building and his parent’s influence on his upbringing; one devout and rejecting cultish films like The Exorcist or Nightmare on Elm Street, the other a budding filmmaker, obsessed with the details and lengths horror would descend. Herbert struggles with letting go of the vintage cinema and struggles deeper with a darkness that exists in more than just the shadows encroaching on the old screens and doorways.

In a compelling, visceral, and painful leading performance by Alex Moran, their performance structures the show closer to a solo show with additional voice-over elements and performances. But we wouldn’t want to spoil those, now, would we? Moran is lacerating in their performance – emotional without melodramatic and bordering into an unhinged realm where the lines of antagonism and sympathy begin to blur – and all the while the atmosphere within the Perth Theatre is dense – near choking with the persistent sense of a threat always lingering.

Noticeably, Ryan Simons’ scripting, thoughts and structure of the production are woven into a profound love for cinema. Shock Horror, for as much as it may be a ghoulish piece of horror, is the cinema-lovers theatre – there are even a few echoes of the eighties FMV horror-based video games, packed with violence and (then) newfangled jump-scares. Double-edged, the reliance on the various references and casual hint-drops into the script works to enhance the flow of the story (and the surprising comedic moments) as live performance meets stellar illusion work but is overly reliant on the video projection, and frequently peppered in lines and references to stand entirely on its own – something the story, design, and lead-performance are more than capable of doing.

But where the video design and projection have drawbacks, it is foremost an atmospheric, and when used sparingly, an effective tool for both emotional twists and storytelling – projected across Ethan Cheek’s decaying set design; as gorgeously crafted as it is unnerving and rotten; a reflection of far more than audiences initially suspect. Andrew Croft and Matt Carnazza’s lighting, though intentionally intensive, is transformative in how well it works to conceal illusions and shape the structure and depth of the stage. Any good horror film understands the importance of its soundscape and lighting – and this stage show is no different. And what a treat the team with Ben Parson’s composition has – both standing apart and homage to many classic horror-icon themes; at its best when comprehending silence, slowly introducing itself as the shadows grow.

Pulses will race as audiences find themselves equally as disturbed as exhilarated. As theatrical storytelling, Simon’s production is a live performance to a keenly sharp level and together with John Bulleid’s illusions with some cinematic heritage, it becomes a wholly creative innovative piece. For audiences who still shudder at productions like The Woman in Black or seek a less sitcomish take than 2:22, Shock Horror: A Ghost Story bottles fear and floods it into the veins of those who dare not look away.

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