By Nick Pilgrim
Cicily (Nydia Westman): “Don’t big empty houses scare you?”
Wally Campbell (Bob Hope): “Not me, I used to be in Vaudeville.”
The Cat and The Canary (1939)
At seventy-five minutes in length, The Haunting of Spook Mansion (By Ghosts) packs a great deal of punch into its swift running time.
Harking back to a bygone era, this brand-new work pays loving tribute to screwball comedies and radio serials past where laughter and intrigue were indeed the best medicines.
In my fifteen years as a critic, similar experiences I have had the opportunity to review include:
- Bond – A – Rama
- Celebrity Theatre Sports
- Mystery Radio Theatre
- Stephen Hall – Letters from My Heroes
- The Haunting
- The Woman in Black
- Vampire Lesbians of Sodom
The list goes on.
Fuelled by the play’s ridiculous yet addictive premise, Adrian Chambers (Peter Houghton) is handed an offer too good to refuse.
Beth Jackson (Emily Taheny) is the sole fan at his latest literary launch. Sensing his despair, she proposes to the author a very tempting bet. If Chambers agrees to stay for only one night at a (supposedly) haunted house, she will give him $500,000 as a reward.
Triggered by his failings as an investigative supernaturalist, Chambers dives in head-first. Later, he meets Ben Russell (as Flugel) who runs an organic potato collective. From there the pair exchange zingers in a routine befitting Abbott and Costello (the comedians, not the politicians).
What quickly unfolds in a storyline that gets wilder and more outlandish by the minute, would make the likes of David and Jerry Zucker, Mel Brooks or Monty Python proud.
However, things are never what they seem! Assembled like an extended theatre sports sketch, the trio play their respective roles big and broad, which adds to the overall insanity.
Written and produced by Michael Ward, his impressive resume includes I’m A Celebrity’…Get Me Out of Here, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, and Talkin’ Bout Your Generation. Ward’s trademark sense of delicious wordplay is very much in evidence here. (Generation X spectators like myself will also enjoy and appreciate the sly pop culture references inserted for comic effect.)
On this occasion, Russell Fletcher dons his director’s hat. The versatile actor is also for his expert-level improv skills and a list of shows which include The Adventures of Lano & Woodley, Spontaneous Broadway, and Whose Line Is It Anyway.
An ideal pairing for this kind of material, Ward’s and Fletcher’s professional collaboration feels loose, knowing and somehow made up on the spot. Keeping viewers constantly guessing, I had no idea where the multi-layered narrative was heading.
Which is exactly how it should be.
Having been to numerous shows at Chapel off Chapel’s Loft, Spook Mansion makes solid use of this intimate space. Creative support from Jason Bovaird (Lighting Design), Sarah Tulloch (Set & Costume Design), and Stephen Gates (Sound Design), Angus Thomson (Stage Management), Andrew Bowden and Harry Sokal (Prop Design) all work in tandem to create a fluid experience rich with jump scares and sensory interest.
Since mysteries are making quite the comeback in 2025 on the national theatre scene, The Haunting of Spook Mansion is another piece to consider for fans of the genre.
The strictly limited season runs until Sunday November 23.
Check it out.
Image: Darren Gill
