Review: THE MOORS, Hope Theatre Islington
Photo credit: Steve Gregson Photography
If you’re looking for an appropriately creepy play for the spooky season, look no further than the UK professional premiere of Jen Silverman’s The Moors – currently playing at the Hope Theatre.
Silverman’s play, inspired by the letters of Charlotte Brontë, weaves threads of the Brontë family biography around narrative snippets from Jane Eyre to create a new irreverent and absurd gothic thriller.
Meredith Lewis plays the unassuming Emilie who arrives to fulfil a governess position in the house of the sharp, cruel and cold Agatha (Imogen Mackenzie), sweet, childish, Huldey (Kenia Fenton) and their enigmatic maid Marjory (Tamara Fairbairn), only to find that her employer and student are nowhere to be found. In the background of this mysterious domestic drama is a poetic subplot that harkens back to Jane Eyre involving the household dog (Peter Hadfield) and a moor-hen (Matilda Childs) forming a fraught co-dependent relationship.
The cast of recent graduates, directed by Phil Bartlett, are a joy to watch. Imogen Mackenzie is terrifyingly and unwaveringly frosty as the domineering Agatha. Tamara Fairbairn is hilarious, channelling Magenta from Rocky Horror in her role(s?) as the evasive and troublesome maid Marjory who changes her name and identity between scenes. Matilda Childs and Peter Hadfield are remarkable in their respective roles embodying the animals of the moors with brilliant physicality. Meredith Lewis holds her ground as the unassuming stranger entering this strange household in the middle of the savage moors.
Kenia Fenton’s performance as younger sister Huldey is reminiscent of Kitty from Ghosts – she is adorable and girly and fawning but with an edge of potentially dangerous obsessive tendencies. A particular highlight of the show is Huldey’s solo song performance towards the end of the second act. Props to sound design and composer extraordinaire Julian Starr because this track slaps – when does it drop on Spotify?
Sophia Pardon’s set design is remarkable, transforming the intimate space of the Hope Theatre into a weather-beaten manor house. This is exactly the kind of design I love to see in a pub theatre production – bold and ambitious and larger than life. Unnerving flickering chandeliers and haunting, shadowy lighting effects by Jonathan Simpson create a seasonally appropriate setting. Pardon’s costume design marries Victorian gothic with modern pop-punk, matching the script’s Frankenstein patchwork of classic gothic horror with modern quirky comedy.
This play has a brilliant wild, raw feel to it but occasionally it feels as though the actors are each performing in their own play. This play has all the irresistible ingredients, and is brimming with potential, but a few tweaks would make this play hang together beautifully.
The perfect spooky story for an October night – gorgeously dark, chillingly funny, and a real treat for any Brontë fans.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
The Moors plays at the Hope Theatre until 5 November, with tickets available here.