By: Sara Lamerton
Do you believe in the supernatural? Are you someone who, despite never having had any paranormal experiences yourself, believes at your core that there is an unseen realm just out of conscious reach? Or perhaps you’re a staunch sceptic, preferring to rationalise away superstitions as a gullible, deep-seated psychological ruse?
Well, that’s what Ghost Stories’ protagonist, Dan Tetsell who plays Professor Goodman, a professor of parapsychology, invites us to ponder. Surprisingly, to me at least, almost half of the room last night raised their hands to affirm their belief in the paranormal; with a much smaller percentage saying they’d personally experienced something otherworldly. As Professor Goodman explains, in the ghost-hunting game, these people are referred to as precipitants and this is where the bones of this captivatingly dark performance take flight.
Following three precipitants’ stories of their encounters with the paranormal, we’re invited to consider whether their experiences are exactly as they perceive them to be. Or, if it’s more likely that their personal circumstances and psychological blocks show them things they’d rather not see in fantastical forms to bring them face-to-face with their repressed personal truths. And while we are treated to increasingly unnerving scenes of these encounters, Professor Goodman’s character simultaneously starts to unravel before our very eyes.
Without giving too much away (we’re explicitly asked to keep Ghost Stories’ secrets a secret), if you have seen the movie, you know that the stoic, unflinching Professor is about to enter a nightmare of his own creation. But, if you haven’t and you’re entering this world as a fresh, unsuspecting victim, rest assured you’re in for a treat.
As an avid horror fan who could easily devour the genre for breakfast, I was excited to see this show and it didn’t disappoint. It’s well paced, the production is slick and atmospheric, with simple yet effective props and sound effects; the performances are solid and there is enough foreboding to ensure audiences react accordingly when the shock moments ensue.
On the surface, Ghost Stories might portray itself as simply a play to taunt and tease our fear of death and what may or may not lay beyond. And you’d be right, it does do those things. Yet it has a much deeper layer. A layer that shines a light on the darkest parts of our minds, illuminating how we can so easily get lost in regret and fear; how we become prisoners of our own stories if we fail to stand up for what is right; how we easily fall victim to the darkness only to be left without any hope of moving towards the light of salvation. Essentially, like many horror stories before it, it’s a metaphor for the journey into our deepest, darkest corners. The corners where monsters and demons lurk waiting to possess the very gift of life we’ve been given. That is, until we face those demons head on.