ghost stories athenaeum reviews

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Ghost Stories review – more schlocky than scary but there’s fun to be had

Athenaeum theatre, Melbourne Steve Rodgers gives a dexterous, multifaceted performance in the Australian debut of a spooky West End hit

C aution tape wraps itself around the elegant awnings of Melbourne’s Athenaeum theatre, and the stage is marked with bold lettering: SAFETY CURTAIN. It brings to mind waiting in line for an amusement park ride, in an elaborately decorated area that is designed to evoke a certain theme or feeling.

The feeling here is one of fear – or at least it’s trying to be. Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s popular Ghost Stories, which premiered in London in 2010, finally makes its Australian debut with a local cast after being pushed back due to Covid. Directed by Richard Carroll (The Boomkak Panto, Calamity Jane, Once), the production promises thrills and spooks on stage, and issues a warning: “We strongly advise those of a nervous disposition to think very seriously before attending.”

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In reality, it’s about as scary as those gimmicky YouTube videos where a mangled face unexpectedly pops up and screams at you, or riding a family-friendly ghost train where employees sneak up to tap you on the shoulder – that is to say, reliant on shock more than anything else, and more than a little bit campy. And that’s coming from a reviewer who’s a self-confessed wuss and sleeps with the lights on if there’s even a slight hint of danger.

Without giving too much away – this production is reliant on suspense and mystery, and its creators request we not spoil the show – the play is delivered as a lecture by Prof Phillip Goodman (Steve Rodgers), who specialises in parapsychology. He presents three case studies of inexplicable paranormal activity, experienced by a nightwatchman (Jay Laga’aia), a teenager who’s nicked his dad’s car to go to a party (Darcy Brown) and a skeezy businessman who’s about to become a first-time dad (Nick Simpson-Deeks, who has one repeated – but very funny – visual gag). The subjects of these stories are interviewed by the professor, and then the audience is taken into the heart of each incident through re-enactments.

Goodman stresses that these types of ghostly encounters often have more to do with an individual’s guilt or conscience than the true presence of the supernatural. All the actors in this production are men, and there’s a strong undercurrent of the false bravado that comes from unexamined toxic masculinity. A Shyamalan-worthy twist fortifies both of these points even further, and small visual details become significant when the threads come together at the end. This is the kind of play that might reward a second (or third) viewing to properly appreciate the level of detail in the foreshadowing that’s peppered throughout.

Much of Ghost Stories takes place in the dark, amping up the fear factor – the stage is often pitch black, illuminated only by a torch or car headlights. There’s one brilliant moment where another sense is activated so subtly that it’s not noticeable until it’s everywhere. But the production leans too heavily on visual and aural shock to deliver the majority of its punches, and the result is often more comical than actually unsettling.

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The psychological twists are much more effective than the schlocky and obvious jump scares, with Rodgers’ dexterous, multifaceted performance a particular highlight. The lies we tell ourselves to stay sane – that’s the real harrowing, haunting stuff, and the show is at its most effective when it plays in this more mentally abstract area.

Despite Ghost Stories not being nearly as scary as it wants to be – or, really, at all – there’s still a lot of fun to be had here. Much of this comes from hearing and seeing the way other audience members react to what’s happening on stage – a surprised scream here, a theatrical gasp there. Because so much of the action happens in the dark, there’s a palpable feeling of tension in the room that taps into the communal nature of live performance, with everyone experiencing the same thing at once. It’s nice to experience that again, even if the source is a little hokey.

Ghost Stories runs at the Athenaeum theatre until 5 November. It opens at the Dunstan Playhouse in Adelaide on 7 December

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Ghost Stories

• 3 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

A bloody fun night out – if you dare

How do you review a show that relies on its secrets being kept? That implores you not to talk about it, lest you ruin the fun for everyone else? That's the bind any reviewer heading along to Ghost Stories faces; to explain what the show is like, without revealing, well, anything really.

Billed as a live horror movie – played out in front of you, on stage – this  British horror-themed play written by Jeremy Dyson ( The League of Gentlemen ) and Andy Nyman (Derren Brown TV and live shows,   Peaky Blinders ) certainly offers scares aplenty. The question is, what kind of scares are you actually in for?

I must admit, I'm not the jumpy kind, and I don't scare too easily – which means I'm perpetually in search of something that will deliver the thrill of a proper jump-scare. The trailers certainly promised it so; filled with white-faced punters in the audience, it shows the scares, but never the stage. What is it they say about what you can't see?

Alas, Ghost Stories sits more in the deliciously schlocky, B-grade horror film space for me, rather than anything Blair Witch -worthy of genuine fear. But this doesn't make it any less enjoyable. In fact, perhaps it makes it moreso.

Three creepy stories, told with a generous swathe of winking humour, spin their narratives around a lecture made by Professor Phillip Goodman (Steve Rodgers) – a man who questions the very validity of the stories he has collected in his pursuit of the supernatural. Delivered as a lecture with montages, it's an unusual structure for a play, and perhaps suffers from that sinking feeling like we're back at University, rather than watching something spooky.

Rodgers is excellent though, pacing it all perfectly as he brings the audience on side, before we start to question it all after something malicious or monstorous jumps out at us. First up is Jay Laga'aia as Tony Matthews, a security guard who stumbles upon some bumps in the night. Laga'aia is top tier in a role that suffers from too many long pauses – an attempt to build tension which instead just feels dull – but he capitalises on these moments, filling them with character.

Darcy Brown is Simon Rifkind, a kid that finds himself on a deserted road late at night. Despite a truly cheesy (but immensely fun) horror storyline, Brown leans in – perhaps a testament to the direction of trio  Jeremy Dyson, Sean Holmes and Andy Nyman, who seem to understand their source text.

This is probably the best set piece of the three, accompanied by some of the best mood-setting lighting I've seen on stage of late. In fact, all of Jon Bausor's production design is on point, and along with the lighting, aids in building the narrative perfectly. Special effects by Scott Penrose are fun for what they are – but in this day and age of film technology and digital SF, I wonder if Ghost Stories suffers from our general lack of wonder and amazement when something is executed live in front of us. There are limitations, after all.

Nick Simpson-Deeks is slimy banker Mike Priddle in a role he feels made for. Although some of his jokes fall flat, he's at his best when he's not playing for the audience's laughs. Add a fun little twist at the end, and Ghost Stories wraps itself up in a nice little schlock-horror bow.

If you go in expecting to be scared off your seat, you may be disappointed. But accept it for what it is – a bloody fun night out for B-grade horror afficionados and fans of the supernatural – and you'll be a happy little camper. BYO torch.

Ghost Stories plays until November 5, 2022. Get your tickets here .

Want more Melbourne theatre?   Check out our list of the best theatre and musicals this month.

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Theatre review: Ghost Stories

Performing Arts

The figure of Matt Heyward. Photo by Charles Alexander.

Billed as not suitable for anyone under 15, this Australian realisation of a West End show that first made an appearance in 2010, is a fun, provocative and at times genuinely scary experience that does its best to present phantasmagorical events within the confines and limitations of a theatre.

Ghost Stories  starts off innocently enough with a series of slides that includes numbers (these are replicated within the walls of the Athenaeum itself) whose import will only be explained at the end of the show.

Steve Rodgers is at the lectern playing the avuncular Professor Goodman, a researcher into all manner of extraordinary happenings that can’t be explain by the usual laws of science and reasoning. He gives us a potted history of ghost tales through the ages, the quackery and fakes, the desire for humans to play with, and delight in, curiosities that don’t have easy explanations and our willingness to suspend disbelief.

After portentously setting the scene, Goodman introduces his case studies, three ‘percipients’ who have each encountered the paranormal. One by one, the bewildered men (played with gusto by Jay Laga’aia, Dary Brown, Nick Simpson-Deeks) relate their stories to the curious albeit skeptical Goodman.

Laga’aia’s character is a matter-of-fact nightwatchman doing his rounds. Brown is a nervy student on his drive home from a party. Simpson-Deeks is a pompous businessman waiting for the birth of his first child. All have little in common, except that each has borne witness to some kind of supernatural spectre. This is where all the tropes of horror and ghost stories come together: a lone spotlight wavering uncertainly in the dark; poltergeist mischief; shadows and mist; things that go bump in the night and eerie music. All combine to make the audience titter nervously, scream or jolt in their seats.

The tension builds slowly, crescendoing to a jump scare in each of the three tales. Kudos to the production team for their attention to detail: the set, sound and lighting design are brilliantly conceived. With no interval, it’s a tightly narrated piece of theatre that titillates and shocks.

Read: Exhibition review: Bolder

There is a twist at the end, which offers another way of looking at what we’ve been presented with earlier and promises an even more troubling possibility involving Goodman, but this is one of those shows that needs to be seen without too much explanatory context.

Ghost Stories

Presented by Realscape Productions Athenaeum Theatre Producers: Amy Johnson and Nathan Alexander for Realscape Productions Writers: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman Director: Jeremy Dyson, Sean Holmes and Andy Nyman Associate Director: Richard Carroll Production Design: Jon Bauser Lighting Design: James Farncombe Sound Design: Nick Manning Special Effects: Scott Penrose Original UK Produces: The Lyric Hammersmith Cast: Steve Rodgers, Jay Laga’aia, Darcy Brown, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Matt Heyward Tickets: from $44.95

Ghost Stories will be performed until 5 November in Melbourne before touring to Adelaide from 7 December.

Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the books editor of The Big issue for 8 years. Her first book, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was published by University of Western Australia Press (UWAP). Her next collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Twitter: @thuy_on

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Australian arts & entertainment reviews

Ghost Stories (Athenaeum Theatre) – theatre review

An engaging professor of parapsychology talks us through the history of ghost stories – how they came to be and how they have evolved over time. Phillip Goodman’s (Steve Rodgers) dissertation comes complete with photographic and video “evidence”. Among the most compelling is a photo of four people taken in Scotland in 1972, which, upon closer inspection, reveals more than at first meets the eye.

The scientist asks the audience how many believe in ghosts and how many have experienced the paranormal. A surprisingly large number raise their hands. I find myself in a room of believers.

Goodman reveals that in 20 years of listening to stories about the unexplained three stand out. He proceeds to introduce the first concerning night watchman Tony Matthews’ (Jay Laga’aia). The professor’s words morph into a re-enactment. On his last night after seven years in the job, Matthews’ ghostly experience happened at 3:45am.

Next up, Goodman turns to the tortured tale of young, unlicensed driver Simon Rifkind (Darcy Brown). He is alone in his parents’ vehicle in the dead of night, driving home after attending a party an hour away. Finally, the focus is on a successful but arrogant and annoying investment specialist, Mike Priddle (Nick Simpson-Deeks). He relays his chilling experience with a malevolent force in a baby’s nursery.

But wait … there’s more by way of a surprise/shock ending to Ghost Stories, when everything we’ve heard and seen is upended. It is a clever, creative and compelling piece of theatricality that caps off an engaging 80 minutes of storytelling and scares. Written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, it is directed by that duo and Sean Holmes. It first played in the UK in 2010.

The actors in this Australian production have done a great job. I single out Rodgers as the narrator and Matthews as the night watchman for special mention. Both are natural and personable. Much about the sets, props, lighting and sound impresses. It amounts to an ever-changing tapestry of mood and movement, and goes to show that a production such as this relies heavily on backstage artistry. Technically this is quite a feat to put together and pull off.

While I can’t point to blood curdling screams, there were certainly shrieks from among the more sensitive assembled. Ghost Stories has fun playing with our minds, crafting a flavour of apprehension and fear. It is playing at the Athenaeum Theatre until 5 th November, 2022.

Other reviews you might enjoy:

• The Haunting (Athenaeum) – theatre review
• Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show (Athenaeum Theatre) – musical theatre review
• Escaped Alone and What If If Only (MTC) – theatre review

Alex First is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.

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Theatre Press

Review: Ghost Stories

Spooky symposium Owen James

Endowed in hazard tape and festoon lights, the bellows of Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre make for the perfect location for a night of Ghost Stories. The intimate yet cavernous space is superbly transformed into numerous locations through extremely effective Lighting Design by James Farncombe and stunning Production Design by Jon Bauser; the production looks a million dollars.

Penned by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, the play was a long-running smash hit in the West End, and it’s easy to see why. Designed purely to elicit screams and yelps from audience members tempted by a ghoulish evening, the text relies, as all good horror does, on capacious sequences of suspense, exploding into heart-palpitating jumpscares. This is a very fun night at the theatre, and hearing the packed Athenaeum scream together is a delight.

Taking the form of a horror anthology ala Creepshow or Tales From The Darkside , three seemingly isolated stories are framed by the conceit of a lecture dissecting the history and mythology inherent in Ghost Stories themselves. Steve Rogers masterfully leads this ongoing lecture as Professor Phillip Goodman, whipping through sometimes extraneous passages with delight, and coping with building horrors of his own.

While staving clear of spoilers, it’s safe to say the first story featuring Jay Laga’aia as unnerved nightwatchmen Tony Matthews is undoubtedly the strongest. Laga’aia lulls us into a tense sense of calm as his horror draws closer and closer, milking the building stress in a realistic and cathartic performance that is the highlight of this production. Laga’aia’s exquisitely paced storytelling is aided by, again, superb Lighting Design from James Farncombe.

Darcy Brown plays stranded motorist Simon Rifkind with delightful dread, and Nick Simpson-Deeks is perfectly cast as smarmy businessman Mike Priddle, tormented with infantile terrors. Strong Direction from original creative team trio Jeremy Dyson, Sean Holmes and Andy Nyman successfully lands each tale and its alarming climax, rewarded with screams from the baited crowd.

Mastering horror on the stage is a difficult and admittedly rarely explored feat, and Realscape’s production of Ghost Stories tackles this challenge with tremendous design and absorbing performances. Sure, the scares are silly sometimes – but isn’t that the point of a good ghost story?

For the next couple of weeks, every time a streetlamp flickers, I’ll think of Ghost Stories, playing a limited season until November 5: https://www.ghoststoriestheshow.com.au/

Photography courtesy of Charles Alexander

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• New Zealand

Ghost Stories at the Athenaeum Theatre

A smash hit thriller play Ghost Stories is arriving at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre for a well-timed run over the Halloween period.

Running until Saturday November 5, the play from writers Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s has had sell-out audiences in the UK squirming in their seats for over 10 years.

Ghost Stories welcomes audiences into a nightmarish world, filled with twists, turns and a love-letter to horror. The performance is led by esteemed playwright and actor Steve Rodgers ( Savage River , Kenny ) in the role of Professor Phillip Goodman, along with screen and stage actor Jay Laga’aia ( Star Wars , Play School , Once ), actor and magician Darcy Brown ( Peddling , Animal Farm ) and Green Room Award-winning Nick Simpson-Deeks ( Winners and Losers , The Circuit , Falsettos ).

As far as the story goes…it’s best if you go in not knowing too much – other that you’re likely to laugh and scream in equal measure. What you do need to know is that it may not be appropriate for audiences under 15 years of age (or over 15 years if you’re prone to nightmares).

More details and buy tickets .

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Realscape Productions.

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LILITHIA REVIEWS

Spoiler-free film reviews, live reviews, theatre, gaming, music, K-Pop, and all things in between.

• by Kiera Stephens
• Posted on October 2, 2022

Ghost Stories – Theatre Review

Produced by Amy Johnson and Nathan Alexander for Realscape Productions (AU) , Jeremy Dyson, Sean Holmes, and Andy Nyman, and written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, Ghost Stories is a production that I’ve been waiting a very long time to see. I wanted to see the film adaptation, as I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see the stage production. However, I waited patiently, and it was very much worth the wait.

Now, you’ve most likely seen the trailers featuring audience members screaming in terror and holding onto the person next to them. This isn’t an attempt to exaggerate audience reactions to trick you about how scary Ghost Stories is. I saw numerous audience members screaming and grasping for the person next to them during my attendance. I even saw one audience member almost jump out of their seat. The fear that Ghost Stories brings on the audience is the classic fear that few horror films ignite in audience members these days. That primal fear of the unknown, triggering our fight or flight response, and it is something that was great to see and be a part of.

The way to describe the plots as simply as possible is that we are watching a lecture from Dr. Phillip Goodman (Steve Rodgers) , a Professor of Parapsychology retelling stories from three percipients ( a person that has a had an experience with a supernatural entity ). However, his lecture is more than just re-enactments of percipients stories. Segments of the lecture are devoted to ghost photography and the history of ghost stories. None of this is boring or out of place. A large portion of this is due in part to Rodgers ’ performance being both realistic and comedic. These moments were some of my favourites as I’ve always wanted my disbelief of ghosts to be proven wrong.

The cast is what turns Ghost Stories into something more than just wanting them to scare the bejesus out of you. The cast member that most of the audience would be most familiar with is the always charismatic and talented Jay Laga’aia , whose character Tony Matthews is perhaps the most likeable and garnered the most laughs. That’s right, there’s laughs as well as terror. Laga’aia plays his characters as sympathetic and the most likeable, playing a man that has worked his whole life and whose experience is perhaps the most linked to his personal story. This was the most compelling aspect, as each character’s encounter was tied seamlessly to their personal life.

Darcy Brown plays Simon Rifkin , a teen driver that has had his lies finally catch up with him, Brown walks a line of playing Simon as irresponsible and lacking maturity. But somehow, his portrayal still had me incredibly concerned for his character. In my session, Mike Priddles (Nick Simpson-Deeks) story was the most terrifying, and it was sequence that had audience members jumping from their seat. His character is the least likeable, but Simon-Deeks is so funny and committed to his performance he had me truly liking him. The casting of Ghost Stories is so wonderful, that having these excellent actors provide diverse characters that are fully fleshed out and expertly performed, combined with the exciting and seat-jump inspiring stories, makes for the best performances in the horror genre that I’ve witnessed in a very long time.

The effects by Scott Penrose in Ghost Stories are incredible. I love when practical effects are used as they highlight the amount of creative work and passion that is undoubtedly in every moment of Ghost Stories . Multiple sequences left me wondering exactly how they did it, a rare thing in modern horror where CGI effects are the majority.

The use of puppets, lighting, and perhaps the most effective, the use of sets is incredibility effective. Some of these create a sense of unease and tension that is comparable to how Guillermo Del Toro uses sets in his horror films. High praise, I know, but deserved . I will always argue that if lighting and music are ineffective, a horror experience won’t be successful. But Ghost Stories knocks both requirements out of the park. Lighting designer James Farncombe uses light that is almost completely diegetic, so the characters stories always stay in the world of reality. There is a sequence using car headlights as lighting, that had the audience reacting and completely entranced by the cleverness of the sequence.

If there’s one thing that I can’t stand in horror, it’s the overuse of the jump scare musical sting – a cliché that is so overused, it has lost its effect. Now, there are musical stings in Ghost Stories , but sound designer Nick Manning has gone down the diegetic route that was a welcome change from the cliché. I was never once taken out of the world built by the show because I heard that dreaded horror movie jump scare noise. The use of sound in Ghost Stories was one of my favourite aspects because sound in modern horror very rarely uses diegetic sound to elicit fear in the audience.

Ghost Stories is so much more than a generic horror that only horror fans can take enjoy. The stories are truly compelling, using all technical aspects so perfectly alongside the talented actors consistently maintaining the tension of a horror so much, that when the tension eased, I was still completely immersed. There are genuine moments of terror here, so Ghost Stories delivers on its promise, but it’s the stories, the strong performances and the impressive effects that combine to make Ghost Stories so much more than a generic horror experience.

Ghost Stories is playing in Melbourne until November 5th at the Athenaeum Theatre. For more information, visit: https://www.ghoststoriestheshow.com.au Photography by Charles Alexander.

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The Sydney Morning Herald

• Performing arts

This was published 2 years ago

After a horror year, here’s something that’ll really scare you

By nick miller, save articles for later.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

After a horror year, Jeremy Dyson reckons we’re just about ready to be terrified.

The writer, probably best known for the macabre, surreal comedy The League of Gentlemen , is delighted that his West End hit production Ghost Stories is coming to Melbourne, for an eight-week season starting in October.

“The idea of it coming back, on the other side of the world... there’s some hope for the future,” he says.

Gary Cooper in Ghost Stories, West End 2019 Credit: Chris Payne

Ghost Stories is what it says on the tin: a night where a “professor of parapsychology” chills the audience with three “case studies” of supernatural horror.

To reveal any more would be to spoil the fun: rest assured the low-light “ScareCam” that captures audience reaction has recorded a bumper crop of startled screams and involuntary clutching of partners’ arms, over several productions and tours since the original premiere in 2010.

Though the show has been produced in Australia once before, this is the first time we will see the original West End production.

Dyson says he and writer-director Andy Nyman at first had no idea they had a hit on their hands.

“It was supposed to be just a six-week run in a theatre in Hammersmith,” he says. “But from the first night we let an audience in we realised there was a huge appetite for a show like this.

Ghost Stories creators Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

“Everything was going online and experiences were going virtual. The very liveness of Ghost Stories , the fact it was a shared experience was very appealing.”

He believes this appetite for a shared theatre experience has only been sharpened by the pandemic.

“People have realised just how wonderful it is to sit in an auditorium with other human beings.”

And the fact they’ve spent a year being scared in real life doesn’t mean they won’t want to be scared in the stalls, Dyson hopes.

“It’s transporting,” he says. “You forget everything for 80 minutes while the show is going. The fun and the thrill of it – it’s a real ride.”

The other upside of the pandemic, Dyson says, is that it has given him time to write – he and Nyman have another show ready to go that they can’t yet reveal.

“The aim was to catch up with lots of projects and scripts and things like that. [Lockdown] felt like a bit of a gift.”

The show is being produced in Australia by Realscape Productions, who specialised in immersive horror in warehouses or shipping containers before the pandemic, then pivoted to downloadable audio works .

Realscape producer Amy Johnson said Ghost Stories was like nothing else on stage with “the jump scares of a horror movie, the narrative of a psychological thriller and the incredible calibre of stagecraft that comes with West End theatre”.

• Ghost Stories opens at the Athenaeum Theatre in October. Join the ticket waitlist at ghoststoriestheshow.com.au .

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• Oct 3, 2022

A Review by The Guardian: Ghost Stories

Photo by Charles Alexander.

Steve Rodgers gives a dexterous, multifaceted performance in the Australian debut of a spooky West End hit

Caution tape wraps itself around the elegant awnings of Melbourne’s Athenaeum theatre, and the stage is marked with bold lettering: SAFETY CURTAIN. It brings to mind waiting in line for an amusement park ride, in an elaborately decorated area that is designed to evoke a certain theme or feeling.

The feeling here is one of fear – or at least it’s trying to be. Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s popular Ghost Stories, which premiered in London in 2010, finally makes its Australian debut with a local cast after being pushed back due to Covid. Directed by Richard Carroll (The Boomkak Panto, Calamity Jane, Once), the production promises thrills and spooks on stage, and issues a warning: “We strongly advise those of a nervous disposition to think very seriously before attending.”

A Shyamalan-worthy twist

Without giving too much away – this production is reliant on suspense and mystery, and its creators request we not spoil the show – the play is delivered as a lecture by Professor Phillip Goodman (Steve Rodgers), who specialises in parapsychology. He presents three case studies of inexplicable paranormal activity, experienced by a nightwatchman (Jay Laga’aia), a teenager who’s nicked his dad’s car to go to a party (Darcy Brown) and a skeezy businessman who’s about to become a first-time dad (Nick Simpson-Deeks, who has one repeated – but very funny – visual gag). The subjects of these stories are interviewed by the professor, and then the audience is taken into the heart of each incident through re-enactments.

...the kind of play that might reward a second (or third) viewing to properly appreciate the level of detail in the foreshadowing that’s peppered throughout.

A Shyamalan-worthy twist […], and small visual details become significant when the threads come together at the end. This is the kind of play that might reward a second (or third) viewing to properly appreciate the level of detail in the foreshadowing that’s peppered throughout.

The lies we tell ourselves to stay sane – that’s the real harrowing, haunting stuff,

Much of Ghost Stories takes place in the dark, amping up the fear factor – the stage is often pitch black, illuminated only by a torch or car headlights. There’s one brilliant moment where another sense is activated so subtly that it’s not noticeable until it’s everywhere. But the production leans too heavily on visual and aural shock to deliver the majority of its punches, and the result is often more comical than actually unsettling.

The psychological twists are much more effective than the schlocky and obvious jump scares, with Rodgers’ dexterous, multifaceted performance a particular highlight. The lies we tell ourselves to stay sane – that’s the real harrowing, haunting stuff, and the show is at its most effective when it plays in this more mentally abstract area.

there’s a palpable feeling of tension in the room that taps into the communal nature of live performance...

Because so much of the action happens in the dark, there’s a palpable feeling of tension in the room that taps into the communal nature of live performance, with everyone experiencing the same thing at once. It’s nice to experience that again, even if the source is a little hokey.

The Guardian article. Ghost Stories review – more schlocky than scary but there’s fun to be had, published on 3 Oct 2022. Read the full article here .

ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO BOOK?

MELBOURNE at the Athenaeum Theatre: https://bit.ly/GhostStoriesMEL

NOW PLAYING until Nov 5

ADELAIDE at the Dunstan Playhouse: https://bit.ly/GhostStoriesADL

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Van Morrison meets Wes Anderson in an unprecedented mini festival of dance

By cameron woodhead , andrew fuhrmann , leila lois , jess zanoni and peter campbell, save articles for later.

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In this wrap of shows around Melbourne there’s the joy and moodiness of mini dance festival Dance X, Ghost Stories bringing a spine-tingling, fright night of supernatural horror, Tame Impala rocks Rod Laver Arena, the United Ukrainian Ballet bring an emotionally charged performance of Swan Lake to the stage, and the Tallis Scholars’ enthralling night of stand-and-deliver choral music at Melbourne Recital Centre.

DANCE DanceX (Part Two) ★★★½ Arts Centre Melbourne, until October 28

DanceX, the new mini festival for Australian dance companies, continues this week with the second of three programs. And it’s unlikely you will ever find three more dissimilar works thrust together on a single ticket.

Coco Mathieson and Timothy Coleman in DanceX Part Two. Credit: Kate Longley

The first item is Australian Ballet’s production of Johan Inger’s I New Then , which they also performed for Part One. It’s a bustling, grinning, unbuttoned bit of European-style contemporary dance set five songs by Van Morrison. There’s no doubt it rewards a second viewing.

In their smart, vintage outfits – like characters from a Wes Anderson movie – the dancers appear refreshingly human. The work’s signature motif is a simple, joyful leap into the air from a standing start, head thrown back.

The next piece – Queensland Ballet’s re-staging of Greg Horsman’s Glass Concerto – is a far moodier affair. Set to Philip Glass’s popular Violin Concerto No. 1 , this is a technically challenging but theatrical ballet for three couples.

Karul Projects at DanceX Part Two. Credit: Simon Woods

There is, indeed, something rather gothic – something seductive but troubling – about the first two movements of this piece: a deliberate suggestion of cruelty beneath all the precision and control and agility.

It’s a game of submission and domination in black tulle that fascinates and disturbs. The third and final movement, however, shifts to a more conventional – and less enthralling – display of virtuosity and endurance.

The final and longest work on the program is an earnest piece of physical theatre called Silence by up-and-coming Indigenous company Karul Projects. It’s a true variety show with comic skits, impassioned harangues, live drumming, traditional dance and choreographic allegories.

Inspired by the urgent need for a treaty with Indigenous Australians, this is a work – created by Thomas ES Kelly – in which the politics of dance cannot remain mute and where gestures are a means to an end, speaking to and carrying forward the hope for a more just world to come. Reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann

DANCE DanceX (Part One) ★★★★½ Arts Centre Melbourne, until October 22

DanceX is a genuine gift for Melbourne audiences because it brings together nine of the largest and best-resourced dance companies in the country for an unprecedented three-part showcase.

DanceX (Part One) features the largest dance companies in the country. Credit:

Has there ever been such a gathering of the scattered tribes? This is a rare opportunity to reflect on the current state of concert dance, to assess its most recent achievements and wonder where it might go next.

There is, however, only one entirely new work on the program for part one. Veteran choreographer Lucy Guerin has created a very chic duet with outstanding dance makers Lilian Steiner and Samantha Hines.

This is a short but utterly absorbing piece – abstract, angular, rapid, precise – that explores in unexpected ways with synchronisation, symmetry, improvisation and support.

Australian Ballet, meanwhile, present I New Then by Swedish ballet and contemporary choreographer Johan Inger. It’s a very snazzy piece – funny and unpredictable – set to five songs by Van Morrison.

Kiarn Doyle in DanceX, the first of an unprecedented three-part showcase. Credit:

The company caused a stir earlier this year when it staged a work originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater. It’s encouraging to see the company go further in that direction with this joyful holiday project.

The first night also includes three scenes from Bangarra’s Terrain , an award-winning work by company artistic director Frances Rings, which still feels as fresh and inventive as when it premiered ten years ago.

The lavish costumes, striking backdrop, intense sound design and powerful dance all combine in the evocation – both urgent and exhilarating – of a place and its people and their spirit.

Finally, Sydney Dance Company present an excerpt from Rafael Bonachela’s ab [intra] from 2018, a work in which the company’s usual brief-briefs-and-bare-chests aesthetic is given a darker treatment.

The excerpt opens with a beautifully awkward duet, full of strange entanglements and undulant gestures, before transforming into an larger ensemble play of lines and geometries.

Reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann

DANCE Swan Lake ★★★★ The United Ukrainian Ballet, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, October 21

Ballet is political. There is a long history of ballet dancers caught in the turbulence of war and having to make a stand; from Rudolf Nureyev defecting to Western stages during the Cold War to Li Cunxin doing the same in 1981, defying the dictates of the CCP.

Oleksii Kniazkov as Prince Siegfried in The United Ukrainian Ballet’s Swan Lake. Credit:

Fast-forward to this year, where Ukrainian ballet dancers have taken exile in other European companies, responding to the Russian invasion of their country.

Friday evening on Melbourne’s South Wharf was a prominent moment in this history, when The United Ukrainian Ballet brought Swan Lake – a classic ballet of longing, power and betrayal – to the convention centre.

The odds they were up against, staging and touring a complete ballet of this scale, cannot be overstated. Their passion for ballet, a refuge from the tragedy at home, and their bravery was palpable.

The set was beautifully hand-painted, and changed into several elaborate iterations, the most ornate being the palace; a surprise for a touring company under these circumstances. The costuming too was sumptuous, from claret velvet and gold in the ball scene to diaphanous glowing white tutus for the swans.

Kateryna Chebykina as Odette and Oleksii Kniazkov as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Credit:

Kateryna Chebykina as Odile – good swan turned bad – was stunning in a crystal encrusted black tutu, showing off her decisive and plucky leg extensions. The famous 32 fouettes were performed flawlessly.

Oleksii Kniazkov, dancing as Prince Siegfried, leapt across the stage with strength and vigour. Chebykina and Kniazkov’s pas de deux was dark, charged and piercing; perhaps a reflection of the struggles these extraordinary dancers have been through since February.

At the end of the ballet, the curtains rose to a chorus of the Ukrainian national anthem and their flags lifted high by the ballerinas, an unforgettable moment and a reminder again of what this makeshift ballet company has achieved in the face of great adversity.

A reminder also of the power of dance to profoundly move dancers and audiences alike.

Reviewed by Leila Lois

MUSIC Tame Impala ★★★★★ Rod Laver Arena, Saturday, October 22

Kevin Parker, on stage at Rod Laver Arena with Tame Impala. Credit: Rick Clifford

It’s no surprise an artist whose stardom was built through a no-frills blend of bold creativity and dedication should see a stadium show as an opportunity for rich atmospheric potential.

Tame Impala, fronted by Perth-born Kevin Parker, delivered a sense of serene wonder across this two-hour odyssey. The sold-out show was attended by devotees whose adolescence was soundtracked by Parker’s early albums Innerspeaker and Lonerism , and younger fans whose interest may have been sparked around the release of Currents in 2015.

A video reminiscent of a pre-flight safety announcement provided a cheery warning on the effects of Rushium, a mock drug that slows down time, used to promote Tame Impala’s much anticipated tour. Parker arrived on stage to the soundscape of One More Year from most recent album The Slow Rush , and was warmly welcomed by the adoring crowd.

Tame Impala. Credit: Rick Clifford

In moments when Parker sings without his guitar, he saunters to the edge of the stage, soaking up the crowd’s appreciation and sharing in their connection. The 36-year-old plays in arenas around the world, but on this night his home country clearly has special significance - particularly after lengthy tour delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Breathtaking lasers, lighting theatrics, and an assortment of hallucinatory videography help steer the performance, adding greater weight to Parker’s most-loved hits.

An enormous steel ring emitting combinations of light and smoke provided a mesmerising visual highlight. Shapeshifting as a frame, the object accentuated changing moods throughout the performance.

From the propulsive groove of Elephant , to luminous break-up anthem Eventually , there is a euphoric mood to Tame Impala’s songs, and it’s magical to absorb them as beacons of powerful, emotive live energy.

Reviewed by Jess Zanoni

THEATRE Ghost Stories ★★★½ Realscape Productions, Athenaeum Theatre, until November 5

Reviewers of Ghost Stories have been enjoined to avoid spoilers, and quite rightly. This Australian production of a fright night created in 2010 has much in common with the two longest running shows on the West End – Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap , and the adaptation of Susan Hill’s gothic novella The Woman in Black – both of which preserve their twists by audience convention.

Ghost Stories at the Athenaeum. Credit: Charles Alexander

It is supernatural horror delivered with all the atmosphere and suspense commercial theatre can muster. And it begins, as some of the best ghost stories do, with a narrator whose good-natured rationality inclines them towards scepticism of the world beyond.

Stepping up to the lectern is our debunker-in-chief, parapsychologist Dr Goodman (Steve Rodgers) – a veteran investigator of spectral phenomena who takes the audience through a potted cultural history of ghost sightings and supernatural beliefs through the ages, from ancient manifestations to the spirit photography and seances fashionable in the 19th century.

Only three cases in his long career have given Goodman pause. These “percipients”, as the doctor describes them, each take a turn in the spotlight to relate and re-enact their chilling encounters with the unexplained.

There’s a stolid nightwatchman (Jay Laga’aia) doing his rounds, an anxious teenager (Darcy Brown) driving without a licence, and a workaholic stock trader (Nick Simpson-Deeks) waiting for his wife to give birth to their first child.

Jay Laga’aia in Ghost Stories. Credit: Charles Alexander

Each vignette is calculated to spook the audience. Through unnerving performance and precisely calibrated theatrical design, each creates an escalating sense of unease and culminates in a jump scare poised to jolt bums off seats.

Although Goodman has persuasive psychological explanations for these uncanny tales, something is clearly off in the doctor’s world. Since the show’s opening moments, the audience has been drip-fed clues to a disconcerting and brilliantly conceived revelation that will come as a genuine surprise.

Ghost Stories does what it says on the box. Sure, there’s an inevitable cheese factor to some of it, and the special effects might remind you of a ghost train at a carnival. Yet the storytelling draws you in with a conspiratorial air, and spines will tingle at the onstage face-off between psychological and supernatural horror.

With its clever ending and depth of engagement with the long tradition of ghost stories, the show is smarter and more entertaining than the schlocky night out you might expect. Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

MUSIC The Tallis Scholars ★★★★★ Melbourne Recital Centre, October 24

Starting their tenth tour to Australia, the Tallis Scholars under founding director Peter Phillips again proved they are the world’s foremost exponents of sixteenth-century polyphony.

The Tallis Scholars performed well-known masterpieces among lesser known works at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Credit: Laura Manariti

Effortless and poised, the 10 singers took us on a spectacular highlights tour of the Sistine Chapel, sampling well-known masterpieces and uncovering gems from less-familiar composers.

Allegri’s Miserere has featured before, but can hardly be passed over. Its notoriety makes it unmissable, and the capacity audience again delighted in the soaring notes from the quartet in the balcony and the mellifluous plainchant from the stage.

More famous in its day was Palestrina’s six-voice Missa Papae Marcelli (in which the second sopranos joined only for the seven-part final movement). Precision of attack and subtle variety of mood characterised this triumph of word setting and restrained imitative counterpoint. If the men’s voices at times dominated, it was surely Palestrina’s writing that had invited exuberance. Above all, clarity of line and beauty of tone were the qualities present.

The ‘lesser’ works on the program—motets by Spaniard Morales, Italian Festa and Flemish Josquin, a setting of the Lamentations by Genet and an eight-part Magnificat by Victoria—showed the variety of styles present in the musical melting pot that was Rome. Festa’s intricate Quam pulchra for high voices reflected the beauty of its text, contrasting favourably with Genet’s more austere work for lower voices. They concluded with a double-choir motet by Padilla, an exultant encore from Renaissance Mexico.

Stand-and-deliver choral music is out of favour, but professionalism such as this does not require added extras. Removed from its original church context, the music relies on its inherent qualities—beauty, expressiveness and passion—for effect, and we were treated to all three in abundance. Soon celebrating 50 years of making music, Phillips and his Tallis Scholars continue to delight and enthral.

Reviewed by Peter Campbell

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