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"Ominous, comfortable; period and modern" by remotegoat reviewer for remotegoat on 03/03/15
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Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned ghost story, at once comforting and sinister? Rain-swept London streets, creaking country piles, footprints in the snow, family secrets, mysterious disappearing figures, disembodied sobbing… all served up with lashings of hot-buttered-toast by the fire. Susan Hill’s second full length ghost story brings us all this and more.
First published in 1992 it has taken some time for The Mist In The Mirror to come to the stage, surprising given the phenomenal success of Hill’s ‘The Woman In Black’. In this touring production, Oldham Coliseum Theatre and imitating the dog blend live action and digital projections to great effect. These are no show off ‘see how clever we are’ digital effects. They are clever – fabulous even – but they also add tremendously to the performance. Projections allow dark streets to be swept with rain and add great depth to quite minimal sets. When ‘the reader’ appears half way up the back wall, I am at first uncertain if he is live or on film.
Ian Kershaw’s adaptation and Kevin Shaw’s direction give the right genre feel; strong shades of Willkie Collins, Dickens and M.R. James. This is an absorbing tale of mystery and real sinisterness, but it falls short of really chilling. Terrifying it is not.
Don’t expect to leave in a cold sweat or for your date to clutch at you for protection and security. As a well written, technically superb and solidly performed Edwardian fantasy ‘The Mist in the Mirror’ is thoroughly satisfying. You’ll leave the theatre happy, I did.
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