Ghostly tale brought to agreeably sinister life (From Swindon Advertiser)

Ghostly tale brought to agreeably sinister life

5:27pm Tuesday 24th January 2012 in Reviews By Barrie Hudson

THERE were many empty seats at the Wyvern during this performance, which was a shame as each one represented a theatregoer missing out on a treat.

MR James, enduring master of the English ghost story, used to tell his tales to enthralled colleagues and students in his quarters at King’s College Cambridge.

James died more than 75 years ago, so the closest any of us will come to hearing the great man is the excellent work of actor Robert Lloyd Parry, who brings James and his works to agreeably sinister life.

With a candle-lit set consisting of little more than a chair, a table and a bookshelf, Parry becomes James, snoozing in his chair as the audience enters the auditorium and waking as the lights go down.

We were treated to The Ash Tree, a story of revenge involving a hanged witch and her ghastly familiars, and also Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to you, My Lad, in which an academic’s lack of belief in ghosts is challenged when he finds and blows an ancient whistle.

During the latter tale, Parry used a handkerchief to remind us why the words “a face of crumpled linen” are among the most famous and frightening in all of supernatural fiction.

– BARRIE HUDSON