Review of Room 13 at The Barn Theatre in Cirencester
Room 13
Written by Duncan Abel & Rachel Wagstaff
Directed by Loveday Ingram
The Barn Theatre, Cirencester
Tuesday, 1 October 2024
Rating: ★★★
Book tickets to Room 13 here>
Room 13 at The Barn Theatre in Cirencester Review
There is a story in my family about three-year-old me and the death of my mum’s mum, Granny D. She lived next door to us, in the other half of our suburban semi. Her bedroom and mine shared a wall the thickness of a single brick. In happier times, we would knock to each other. DA–da-da-dah-da! Pause. Da-DA! After she fell ill, her screams were as loud as if she were in the room.
Our bedrooms were at the back of our respective houses, overlooking a shared garden. At the far end, beyond the rose beds and the long, narrow lawn, there was a thicket of laurels, dense and dark, which in my childish imagination was the entrance to a spectral world. I’m told that, on the night of Granny D’s death, I called from my bedroom, “Granny’s walking down the garden!” She was, of course, doing no such thing. She was tucked-up tightly in her winding sheet.
Being barely out of nappies at the time, I can vouch for none of this. Instead, I offer this story as a litmus test, to distinguish between those who believe in ghosts and those who don’t. If you’re one of the former, you’re bound to be enthralled by the gothic-supernatural-psychological-horror of Room 13. And even if you’re one of the latter – as I am – you could try dialling down your scepticism – as I did – and allowing yourself to succumb to the pleasure of being safely scared.
Room 13 is on at The Barn Theatre until Saturday 9 November
Room 13 is inspired by the classic ghost stories of Edwardian medievalist scholar, M.R. James. In a shabby hotel in storm-lashed Jutland, four strangers, each carrying an unresolved psychological burden, are thrown together. Things go bump! in the night. Lights flicker and sometimes fail. Paintings leap from their hooks. Radios spring to life. Walls are pummelled by unseen fists. Poorly-latched windows blow open at maximally effective moments. Macabre yarns are spun. Red wine and Danish whisky are swigged. Shameful secrets are shared. Try saying that after a few noggins of Viking Spirit.
At one point, it looks like we might be wandering into territory previously charted by M. Night Shyamalan and Alejandro Amenábar; but, with a handbrake turn, the plot veers off in an unexpected direction and is satisfactorily resolved. Writers Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff have succeeded in producing a lightweight but nevertheless gripping ghost story. Director Loveday Ingram uses designer Alfie Heywood’s functional, confined space effectively, creating a dynamic that is sometimes stifling but never static. Hector Murray’s and Elizabeth Purnell’s respective lighting and sound designs deliver suitably shocking assaults to the senses. Actors Samuel Collings, Alice Bailey Johnson, Ffion Jolly, George Naylor and Philip Pellew bring credibility and definition to their multiple roles.
Enjoy a scary night out in Cirencester at The Barn Theatre and Room 13
It’s all spine-chilling, silly fun, and it’s perfect entertainment for the Halloween season. Yes, the stories-within-the-story are little more than expositional place-holders while the slender outer plot treads water. Yes, aficionados of the genre might have a sixth sense of what lies beneath. Yes, the Accent Police might want to open a new file. Yes, it might have been preferable if one character’s outcome had not been so explicitly depicted. But who cares? Certainly not the bloke sitting behind me, who, when the lights came up, turned to his companion and said, “Clever. Very, very clever.”
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes (including interval)
Contains haze, strobe lighting and loud noises. Deals with issues of suicide, violence and death.
Room 13 runs at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester, until Saturday 9 November 2024
Book tickets to Room 13 at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester>
Room 13 Review at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester by © Paul Sharples
Explore Gloucestershire
2 October 2024 2024
Room 13 at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester photos credits: © Alex Tabrizi
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