Ghost Light ****

Seated on a barely lit stage, a suited man is somewhat pensive. It soon becomes clear why.

It’s 1865, and we are in Victorian London. Henry Webster (Ashley Munson) has joined the London Ghost Club, hoping to write a ghost story. There, he befriends Edward Price (Paul Ackroyd), who persuades him to join their investigation into a reported haunting. Rumours speak of the spirits of two children wandering their former home in search of light and safety. Apprehensively, Webster presents himself to the landlady, the widowed Mia Sands (Bizz Portlock).

Parallel narratives begin to unfold. Jonathan Henning (Ian Tucker-Bell) recounts, by means of letter writing, his relationship with Victor Sands (Pierse Stevens) before the latter’s still-unexplained death.

Webster, initially naturally sceptical, together with Price, encounters the spirits. The children are said to have gone to live in the countryside, but their spirits indicate otherwise. Questions remain: what happened within the household, and how did they all perish?

Written by Tucker-Bell, the play leans into the style of M. R. James. Placing the tale in the Victorian era enables other themes to be alluded to, notably repressed homosexuality. Some of the themes, however, resonate with contemporary relevance: coercive behaviour, abuse and the demonisation of women.

Ghost Light takes its name from a theatrical lantern historically placed on the edge of the stage, and the ensemble employ a series of these lamps instead of traditional theatrical spotlights to create an atmospheric staging. Some lamps are suspended and others carried around the performance area by the cast.

The production takes place in an almost entirely blacked out space. This enables the cast to weave their tale, concealing prop and cast movement and creating a feeling of suspense, intimacy, and pending drama. Credit to the ensemble and director Philip Holden – this was choreographed beautifully.

Apart from the atmospheric staging, Orange Works’ Ghost Light succeeds due to simple, well-constructed storytelling. The cast take to the stage in evocative, unified singing and the dialogue is delivered in a measured, rather than melodramatic, style. The finale, on the other hand, could be reworked and finessed, but this is small criticism of an otherwise fine production.