Following a sold-out UK tour, It Walks Around The House At Night, a haunting yet heartfelt horror play, is currently running at Southwark Playhouse. Unsettling and emotional at the same time, this show may be eerie, but it also manages to tug on the heartstrings.
Show: It Walks Around The House at Night
Writer: Tim Foley
Director: Neil Bettles
Theatre: Southwark Playhouse (Borough)
Runs until: 28th March
Rating: ★★★★★
To bring everyone up to speed, here is a brief summary of what to expect from the show…
Joe is someone who desperately wants to be an actor…even if that means taking a job pretending to be a ghost walking around a house at night. Except, the job may not be as simple as it sounds when darker forces come into play…
Horror is such a tricky genre. Sure, jump scares will do exactly that – make people jump. But the greatest horror stories – The Exorcist, The Woman in Black, The Conjuring – are ones that feel real and feed off human emotion. It Walks Around The House At Night is a perfect example of how this is done.
George Naylor owns the stage for almost the whole duration of the play unaccompanied as Joe, and he does a stellar job. His energy from start to finish is admirable, and the increasing fear and desperation as the play progresses is palpable through his performance; the emotions he brings to the role feel authentic and raw. Naylor commands the audience’s attention throughout the entirety of the play and, through his stellar acting, maintains the level of tension required for such a piece to great effect. This is a role that is far from easy, both very physical and emotional. It is this emotional depth and the layers to Joe’s character that make him so real, and Naylor seems to take the challenge of bringing him to life in his stride and performs the role with ease. The ability to captivate an audience’s attention and deliver such an intense performance singlehandedly, and with such emotional impact, is only a testament to what a skilled actor and storyteller Naylor is.
Naylor’s interpretation of Joe, paired with Neil Bettles’ detailed direction, brings audiences a character who is cheeky, charming and lovable. Energetic and charismatic, Naylor’s take on Joe makes him someone whom any one of us could know in our day-to-day lives. Joe has been brought to life with such humanity which makes his journey throughout the play have that much more impact. Horror as a genre does not mean the emotional aspect needs to be lost. In fact, the emotions I’d argue are more important than ever, and they’re very much present in this play.
Of course, a great performance, almost always, goes hand in hand with a great script. Said script, courtesy of award-winning writer Tim Foley, is fantastic. Cleverly crafted and full of imagination and vivid imagery, the text blends the eerie and unsettling horror with the lighthearted coping mechanism humour that Joe relies on to keep himself sane. It takes a talented writer to create something that is both chilling and beautiful, but Foley has done just this. There may be a relatively limited set with no changes, yet through Foley’s writing, the audience can easily and vividly imagine the house and all around it – horrors included. It Walks Around The House At Night shows how the horror genre can be multifaceted, and how horror and vulnerability can and do work well together. After all, a large part of fear comes from being vulnerable, so it only makes sense for the two to go hand in hand, something Foley clearly understood when writing this play. Dark and twisty, camp and creepy, Foley’s script combined with Naylor’s acting and Bettles’ direction all come together well and provide audiences with a brilliant show.
Without spoiling a part of the play, something I found very moving during It Moves Around The House At Night is how powerful storytelling can be, without any words being used. There is a scene in the play that is primarily performed through movement. The choreography was fluid and mesmerising, and a fantastic way to convey emotions without the performer having to utter a sound. Such a poignant and entrancing scene within the show, and a brilliantly imaginative way to demonstrate that storytelling is not just limited to the spoken word.
The direction of Bettles and the use of stagecraft for this show are equally matched in excellence. Every fearful moment feels calculated, purposeful and whilst the show is unnerving in the desired way, the use of terror doesn’t feel like it’s there to scare people for the sake of it. Every jump scare, whilst thrilling, also feels intentional and a part of the plot progression. There is not a vast set nor a plethora of costume changes, but the use of lighting and sound from Joshua Pharo and Pete Malkin, respectively, is hugely effective. The use of these heightens the tension, and at times I actually found the use of silence and darkness brought their own level of fear; the anticipation of something scary can sometimes be more than enough to have one on the edge of their seats.
A fantastic performance, a superb script, meticulous direction and details; all of these come together, and this remarkable show is the outcome. Atmospheric, heartfelt and haunting, It Walks Around The House At Night may appear to be a horror play, but the depth is what elevates it. Come for the jump scares and be left with a play that is so much more than just a spooky story.
It Walks Around The House At Night is running at Southwark Playhouse until the 28th March.
You can find out more about the show here: https://www.thickskintheatre.co.uk/itwalks/
You can book tickets for the show at the Southwark Playhouse here: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/it-walks-around-the-house-at-night/
One Show at a Time 