By: Rosie Sharman-Ward
A ghost story, based on true events that begins with, “Hands up. Has anybody ever seen a ghost?” This is going to be great!
Written and performed with great charm and humour by Jon Nash, and directed by Laura Jasper, it is fascinating piece of documentary theatre; I nervously enjoyed every minute. From the weird experiences of Jon’s spooky student house, newly renovated and decorated yet oddly affordable, to the scarily sad story of the participants in a paranormal experiment, it is an enthralling cautionary tale.
In 1970’s Canada the Philip Experiment by a group of parapsychologists believed they had conjured a ghost named, well, Philip! Their experiments were recorded and broadcast on national television to an excited audience.
In 2006 a similar experiment was carried out by Exeter University where they invited cash-strapped students to be paid to take part with devastating results. The students were writer Jon Nash’s cohort, indeed some were his friends. The repercussions are haunting to this day.
The scene is set as we arrive with a very “corporate” looking table and chairs, laptop and projector. Nothing too scary here – we have all endured time in a room such as this! Jon smiles and greets us then says, “Have any of you seen something that may have been a ghost? Hands up if you have.” Wow, here we go!
We are then invited to take part in a screening programme to assess our suitability for a paranormal experiment. There is much jittery laughter as brave volunteers and members of the audience take part in a series of actions designed to welcome a ghost into our midst, hyped by being interspersed with recordings from the ill-fated Exeter students. Tension is relieved by switching back and forth to the history of Victorian explorations of the paranormal and séances and we chuckle knowingly at how gullible people were. Then the lights begin to flicker…
I was unsure when I was invited to review this show for two reasons the first being the dreaded words “audience participation” and then, more importantly, a séance. As suggestible teenagers, friends held a few séances and ended up very frightened indeed. The narrative of the Exeter University experiment is dark and harrowing. Some of their recorded voices full of pain and disbelief. Jon is an excellent MC, keeping us just on the edge of freaking out and our experiment is much lighter. In places it is very funny, deliciously terrifying in others. We come away from this brilliant show with a new vocabulary of scientific words beginning with “para..”, contemplating a stark warning: You may or may not believe in ghosts but you could easily become haunted!
Is there anybody there? Go along and find out for yourself!