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| Aoife Kennan as Anne in The Watch House at Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay. Credit Topher McGrillis |
It makes a change to see a play at this time of year, when I
have several pantos to review over the next week. I for one couldn’t wait for
this new play based on Robert Westall’s The Watch House. This was one of my favourite
books as a child, so it was exciting to see how they would turn it into a stage
production.
In the intimate venue of Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay with
a 50-seat theatre space, it was perfect for the atmosphere of this supernatural
ghost story.
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| Donald McBride, Catherine Dryden and Aoife Kennan in The Watch House at Laurels in Whitley Bay. Credit Topher McGrillis |
The story is set in Tynemouth in the late 1970s. Anne has
been sent to stay with Prudie and her brother Arthur, so her mother can return
to London and sort out her divorce. Arthur looks after The Watch House and Anne
becomes fascinated by the stories and artifacts as she is drawn deeper into the
mysterious activities through the flickering lights, moving skulls and apparitions.
Donald McBride, well known to the North East, plays Arthur
and Geordie, his voice is perfect for the roles, creating an incredible
atmosphere. Aoife Kennan plays Anne, she brilliantly shows a range of emotions,
from disappointment being dumped in Tynemouth and the boredom she faces, to unlocking
the secrets of the past. Catherine Dryden, plays a number of parts. Firstly she
appears as Anne’s mother, Fiona, then Prudie, before Da Souza, the local priest
and the teenage boy, Timmo, the friend Anne meets at the church disco. Catherine
switches swiftly between the characters showing a range of physicality and accents.
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| Catherine Dryden and Aoife Kennan in The Watch House at Laurels in Whitley Bay. Credit Topher McGrillis |
The simple set with a backdrop silhouetting scenes of
Whitley Bay and Tynemouth with graves below, set the local scene ahead. A large
wooden box ingeniously at its simplicist becomes the kitchen worktop / table,
with the complexity of creating the display case in the museum of The Watch House,
easily pulled into place.
The Watch House is one of the best performed ghost stories I’ve
seen for many years. I’m sure this will not be the last time we will hear of The
Watch House.
Runs until 23rd December at Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay.
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