The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting Of Hill House is a new incarnation of a classic, that's been running at the Liverpool Playhouse Theatre and receiving rave reviews from critics. The show is based on the 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson, which later became the Hammer Horror movie 'The Haunting'. This was later rebooted starring Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta Jones and Liam Neeson. This production saw Emily Bevan (who our readers will know from BBC3's 'In The Flesh' ) in the lead role and combines the classic horror piece with multimedia and projection mapping technology from 59 Productions.
We had been very careful to avoid as many spoilers as we could, but it's hard to not have high expectations when we've seen amazing theatre performances previously in the form of The Woman In Black, Ghost Stories and of course The Generation Of Z, and although totally different to any of those, there is certainly some crossover between The Haunting Of Hill House, which we'll cover.
As we took our seats we noted that the beautiful architecture of the theatre helped to create the perfect ambience as did the vintage audio track that was playing to welcome the excited full house. The show starts very abruptly, setting the mood perfectly. The whole show takes place within a purpose built box like structure edged with bulbs to create an almost dressing room mirror effect, which is used to 'blind' the audience in between scene changes - it's a nice effect as it helps disorientate you and also creates the illusion that the setting is darker than it actually is.The show builds pace slowly in a similar format to the Woman in Black and is very careful not to overdo the effects. Set wise, simple set changes on two revolving platforms create the illusion of this living breathing house in which our protagonists find themselves hopelessly lost. The scenes where the group explore the various corridors and passageways are aided by some very nicely produced projection mapped scenes, which brought the relatively simple set design into an entirely different realm.
Both act one and act two end in a crescendo of set pieces which are impressive visually as well as technically. Emotions ran high as we felt both petrified, and staggered by the beauty of the design used to create the moments that came together with such magnitude. The use of multimedia within the production doesn't feel jarring, as you might expect with it being a period piece. Instead it subtly adds substance and affirmation to the surroundings. A couple of times we did however feel that certain seats within the theatre would provide a much fuller experience of certain effects. We felt a more claustrophobic mood was present within the stalls and circle, whereas the gallery offered a less personal feel and we were concerned that people sat further back would miss the point of certain effects entirely. This is something that could be said for a lot of shows but it felt especially apparent during the performance in this space.
Each artist brought something wonderfully different to their role and the unexpected comedy offered inbetween the tension had the audience laughing uneasily, as they build up to the more terrifying scenes. Emily Bevan is utterly brilliant in her role and her transition throughout the performance is perfectly balanced somewhere between control and chaos. It doesn't feel overdone or hammy at any point. Act two speeds along at pace as the audience is drawn further and further into the snowballing action before the full shocking realisation sets in. Our hearts leapt into our mouths when the final moments fell into place, and the conclusion truly played in our minds for hours afterwards.
As we've mentioned previously, we have seen a few other theatrical horror pieces over the years, and loved them all. The thing I feel people need to remember is that although they are all still under the same genre, they are all so different. The ability to scare through theatre is so vast, and each show has its own forte, some being suspense building, some using shock and gore, and some placing you right in the action. For this production, we felt great commonalities with The Woman in Black when looking at the art of suspence, however it's true appeal was it's utter breathtaking design. It draws you so deeply into the world of the characters, and in particular one of the opening scenes gave you such a vivid insight into the mind of our protagonist Eleanor that you were instantly captivated. You are drawn into her world and from that moment you are truly invested in her story. And this is what makes the play truly exceptional. The way the design and multimedia takes you from reality to fantasy with such ease, flows seamlessly and doesn't overpower the wonderful work of the actors means that for a few hours reality is totally suspended. And having this level of investment in every aspect of the performance means that the scares are intense, beautifully executed and powerful.
The show has just finished it's run in Liverpool but we sincerely hope that there will be a chance to see it tour at some point. It was a truly breathtaking and memorable experience. We'd love to revisit Hill House as well as it's characters to enjoy some of the details we might have missed during the panic!
We had been very careful to avoid as many spoilers as we could, but it's hard to not have high expectations when we've seen amazing theatre performances previously in the form of The Woman In Black, Ghost Stories and of course The Generation Of Z, and although totally different to any of those, there is certainly some crossover between The Haunting Of Hill House, which we'll cover.
As we took our seats we noted that the beautiful architecture of the theatre helped to create the perfect ambience as did the vintage audio track that was playing to welcome the excited full house. The show starts very abruptly, setting the mood perfectly. The whole show takes place within a purpose built box like structure edged with bulbs to create an almost dressing room mirror effect, which is used to 'blind' the audience in between scene changes - it's a nice effect as it helps disorientate you and also creates the illusion that the setting is darker than it actually is.The show builds pace slowly in a similar format to the Woman in Black and is very careful not to overdo the effects. Set wise, simple set changes on two revolving platforms create the illusion of this living breathing house in which our protagonists find themselves hopelessly lost. The scenes where the group explore the various corridors and passageways are aided by some very nicely produced projection mapped scenes, which brought the relatively simple set design into an entirely different realm.
Both act one and act two end in a crescendo of set pieces which are impressive visually as well as technically. Emotions ran high as we felt both petrified, and staggered by the beauty of the design used to create the moments that came together with such magnitude. The use of multimedia within the production doesn't feel jarring, as you might expect with it being a period piece. Instead it subtly adds substance and affirmation to the surroundings. A couple of times we did however feel that certain seats within the theatre would provide a much fuller experience of certain effects. We felt a more claustrophobic mood was present within the stalls and circle, whereas the gallery offered a less personal feel and we were concerned that people sat further back would miss the point of certain effects entirely. This is something that could be said for a lot of shows but it felt especially apparent during the performance in this space.
Each artist brought something wonderfully different to their role and the unexpected comedy offered inbetween the tension had the audience laughing uneasily, as they build up to the more terrifying scenes. Emily Bevan is utterly brilliant in her role and her transition throughout the performance is perfectly balanced somewhere between control and chaos. It doesn't feel overdone or hammy at any point. Act two speeds along at pace as the audience is drawn further and further into the snowballing action before the full shocking realisation sets in. Our hearts leapt into our mouths when the final moments fell into place, and the conclusion truly played in our minds for hours afterwards.
As we've mentioned previously, we have seen a few other theatrical horror pieces over the years, and loved them all. The thing I feel people need to remember is that although they are all still under the same genre, they are all so different. The ability to scare through theatre is so vast, and each show has its own forte, some being suspense building, some using shock and gore, and some placing you right in the action. For this production, we felt great commonalities with The Woman in Black when looking at the art of suspence, however it's true appeal was it's utter breathtaking design. It draws you so deeply into the world of the characters, and in particular one of the opening scenes gave you such a vivid insight into the mind of our protagonist Eleanor that you were instantly captivated. You are drawn into her world and from that moment you are truly invested in her story. And this is what makes the play truly exceptional. The way the design and multimedia takes you from reality to fantasy with such ease, flows seamlessly and doesn't overpower the wonderful work of the actors means that for a few hours reality is totally suspended. And having this level of investment in every aspect of the performance means that the scares are intense, beautifully executed and powerful.
The show has just finished it's run in Liverpool but we sincerely hope that there will be a chance to see it tour at some point. It was a truly breathtaking and memorable experience. We'd love to revisit Hill House as well as it's characters to enjoy some of the details we might have missed during the panic!
Links
You Review
Have you also visited this or any other attractions recently? - tell us what you thought here
|
All the latest news, stories, review and gossip can be found on the ScareTOUR social media pages - the hottest presence in the UK for Scare Attractions! |
|
|
|