{"id":119691,"date":"2025-05-21T11:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119691\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:46:09","slug":"ghost-stories-the-alexandra-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119691\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghost Stories – The Alexandra, Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writers: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Directors: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The creators of Ghost Stories understand that frequently less is more. Get the atmosphere right and the\"Trh\" audience\u2019s heads will do the rest. And for Ghost Stories, that atmosphere is generated even before we arrive in the theatre with warnings about the content and images of audience members\u2019 reactions.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s no surprise that when we enter the auditorium, there\u2019s a chilling soundscape (Nick Manning), with bass that can be felt right into the gut, and barely discernible flickers of the house lights. The whole is lit atmospherically, with much of James Farncombe\u2019s lighting design being focused, stark and white and often originating at the level of the stage, making the whole look and feel otherworldly. That\u2019s supported by Jon Bausor\u2019s clever set that seamlessly morphs into a myriad of places.<\/p>\n

But we start with the affable Professor Goodman (Dan Tetsell) approaching a lectern and starting his lecture on his specialist subject, parapsychology. He asks the audience about their beliefs \u2013 who believes in ghosts? Who has had a supernatural experience? He\u2019s engaging as he aims to debunk many ghost stories with rational-sounding explanations, but he tells us there are a few he has come across that are \u2026 unusual. He\u2019s recorded testimony of these, which he shares with us. And so we meet a disparate group of men (played by David Cardy, Eddie Loodmer-Elliott and Clive Mantle) who re-enact their experiences.<\/p>\n

Our emotions are skillfully played as the anticipation becomes overwhelming. Our nerves increasingly jangling, we\u2019re drawn right in to each individual\u2019s story. It\u2019s clever stuff done by a creative ensemble at the top of their respective games. The writing is tight, the timing exemplary and, of course, there are jumpscares leaving us just a little breathless. But the heavy lifting is done by the imaginations of the audience, steered by the alchemy conjured by the team.<\/p>\n

The onstage ensemble gets the mood exactly right, playing their roles with a straight bat. Each individual is believable even as their characters try to articulate the unexpressable with, in at least one case, a refreshing dollop of humour. It\u2019s a fun night of twists and scares \u2013 as well as nervous giggles.<\/p>\n

As the old ad might have said, Ghost Stories does exactly what it says on the tin. This is a very well-done piece with each component honed by mastercrafters. It\u2019s slick and will leave you energised by the experience, with an elevated pulse rate to boot. Horror aficionados will find much to enjoy, but the attraction isn\u2019t restricted to them: it\u2019s a great night out \u2026 if you dare to go and immerse yourself in its world.<\/p>\n

Runs until 24 May 2025 and on tour<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writers: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman Directors: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes The creators of Ghost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[53511,855,748,53512,53513,53514,53515,393,53516,4884,53517,53518,31411,53519,53520,40228,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-119691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-andy-nyman","9":"tag-birmingham","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-clive-mantle","12":"tag-dan-tetsell","13":"tag-david-cardy","14":"tag-eddie-loodmer-elliott","15":"tag-england","16":"tag-ghost-stories","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-james-farncombe","19":"tag-jeremy-dyson","20":"tag-jon-bausor","21":"tag-nick-manning","22":"tag-sean-holmes","23":"tag-the-alexandra","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}