Review: THE HAUNTING OF BLAINE MANOR, Darlington Hippodrome
Joe O’Byrne, in the publicity for The Haunting of Blaine Manor, has remarked on his childhood love of Hammer Horror movies and Hollywood’s Golden Age, and his show is reminiscent of some of this. It is certainly a slow burn, introducing us gradually to the handful of characters gathered for one stormy night at the eponymous estate – the story owes much to classics of cinema, such as The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting, and Stephen King’s TV-miniseries, Rose Red.
As the house lights faded, we are aurally attacked by a barrage of sound effects – horses’ hooves clattering, motor car engine, water splashing – as the curtain rises on the very sparse stage. Five chairs are scattered across the black-box set, with scant props – a gramophone on a table, a drinks globe, and a low table with a lamp are all we have to suggest the Manor itself. It is an interesting choice to have no set, but rather to box in the actors with the black curtains instead. Indeed, the lack of specific set adds to some of the confusion – at one point, a character turns to another and suggests a drink in the Drawing Room and, two steps later, they have apparently travelled to this new location.
As the play opens, we discover Dr Roy Earle, played by Peter Slater, bemoaning that his car crashed into the lake, containing all of his vital equipment needed to disprove the haunting at Blaine Manor. He is accompanied by the quirky, twitchy Cairo, played by Andrew Yates, as a clear homage to star of many a Hollywood classic, Peter Lorre. His physicality really adds to the character, towering over others, and the extreme makeup, while a little over the top, adds to the sense of otherworldliness of the alleged psychic.
They are quickly joined by Jo Haydock’s Vivian Rutledge, clad all in black and floating like Morticia Addams, and in the scene that follows, we are given a huge amount of exposition very quickly – we learn the back story of a number of the characters, including the absent homeowner, and told of the séance held the previous night. This becomes something of a sticking point in the production – all too often, we are told of the horrifying or terrifying moments which have all occurred off-stage, unseen by the audience. It is a classic case of how ‘show, don’t tell’ is better, and undermines the horror of the production. Throughout Act 1, we seem to build up to a dinner party, with the threat of danger therein as the characters are all due to gather, but somewhere during the interval, the dinner part occurs, and when we return to our seats for the second act, we are back in the drawing room-come-lobby, being told of all of the character development, and drinking, that occurred during the meal.
Haydock’s performance is an intriguing one as throughout Act 1, she is presented as a sceptical reporter, yet through Act 2 she gives away a robust knowledge of local legend and understanding of witchcraft. She provides a further exposition dump in Act 2 where she fills those in on stage about the Pendel Witches, and there is an attempt at a feminist commentary somewhere in her dialogue, but this remains muddy – a shame, then, that the only woman involved in this entire production is given such a lack of clarity of character.
As the parapsychologist called upon to verify the claims of the haunting alongside Cairo, Jimmy Allen’s Scarabus is another archetype straight out of a Hammer Horror, and with his dishevelled suit and hair, he makes quite the contrast to both Cairo and Earle. His terror verges on pantomimic, though, and in the moments of haunting – created with simple shifts in lighting state and arm-waving acting – this over-the-top performance style seems to be contagious.
Rounding off the cast is Ed Barry’s Victor de Lambré and writer-director Joe O’Byrne’s Grady. As de Lambré, playing the role of the Custodian with a Tim-Curry-in-Clue quality, Barry has some acerbic lines to deliver, and helps to build the sense of unease as he informs us that his master is no longer able to join them for dinner. In contrast, O’Byrne’s Grady is straight out of Kubrick’s The Shining, even sharing his name with the character who torments Jack Torrance in that other haunted building. Very early on, the truth of Grady’s character is shared with us, which does make his motivation in further scenes, such as when he torments Cairo with a rocking chair, a little less clear.
A final twist in the tale – quite clearly signposted from early on – suddenly makes a number of directorial choices within the production a little clearer, but there is little that we can comment on without giving away too much of the plot. Suffice to say that the twist is satisfactory, if a little predictable.
When told that his car was forced off the road by the ghost of a rider from the long-gone stables, Dr Earle comments “for a ghost, it was a little underwhelming.” Sadly, truer words were never spoken.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Scott Edwards
The Haunting of Blaine Manor plays at Darlington Hippodrome until 29 June, with further info here.