Ghost Stories (play)

{{Short description|2010 one-act horror play}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox play | name = Ghost Stories | image = Ghoststorieslogo.JPG | caption =Original West End production logo | writer = Jeremy Dyson Andy Nyman | genre = Horror | setting = | subject = | premiere = 4 February 2010 | place = Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool | orig_lang = English }} '''''Ghost Stories''''' is a one-act horror play written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman.<ref name="ThePlay">{{cite book |last1= Dyson |first1= Jeremy |author-link1= Jeremy Dyson |last2= Nyman |first2= Andy |author-link2= Andy Nyman |date= 2019 |title= Ghost stories |location= London |publisher= Nick Hern Books |isbn= 9781848428263 }}</ref>

== Background == The play was conceived after Nyman walked past the theatre which had hosted ''The Woman in Black'' for over 30 years, and he realised there hadn't been a horror play produced since that time. He contacted his childhood friend Jeremy Dyson with the idea of a new horror play like ''The Vagina Monologues'', with three narrators on stage telling ghost stories. The two were commissioned by Sean Holmes, the newly appointed artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith theatre in London, to write the play.<ref name="ThePlay" />

== Production history == [[File:Ghost Stories stage.jpg|thumb|''Ghost Stories'' auditorium, Ambassadors Theatre, 2019]]

=== UK productions === The play made its world premiere at the Liverpool Playhouse on 4 February 2010 in a co-production with the Lyric Hammersmith where it transferred on 1 March 2010. Following the run, it transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End where it played from 25 June 2010 until 19 June 2011.<ref name="Official site">{{cite web|title=Ghost Stories (Duke of York's Theatre)|url=http://www.ghoststoriestheshow.co.uk//home.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305032730/http://ghoststoriestheshow.co.uk/|archive-date=5 March 2011|access-date=8 August 2021}}</ref> The original cast featured the play's co-creator Andy Nyman as Professor Phillip Goodman, David Cardy as Tony Matthews, Ryan Gage as Simon Rifkind and Nicholas Burns as Mike Priddle. From 9 November 2010, Reece Shearsmith took over from Nyman as Goodman.

The production was revived at the Arts Theatre on 13 February 2014 and ran until March 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bestoftheatre.co.uk/blog/post/ghost-stories-review|title=Ghost Stories Review|website=eventseeker.com|access-date=2014-06-20}}</ref>

The play was revived again at the Lyric Hammersmith, marking the end of co-director Holmes' tenure as artistic director at the theatre from 29 March until 11 May 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Theatre review: Ghost Stories at Lyric Hammersmith (Main House)|url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/ghost-stories-lyric-hammersmi-17394|access-date=2021-06-09|website=British Theatre Guide|language=en-GB}}</ref> To coincide with this revival, on 4 April 2019, the play text was published by Nick Hern Books.<ref name="ThePlay" /> The production transferred to the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End from 4 October to 4 January 2020.

Following the 2019 revival, the play began its first UK tour from January 2020 at The Alexandra, Birmingham.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishtheatre.com/ghost-stories-uk-tour-book-tickets-now/|title=Ghost Stories UK Tour – Book Tickets Now|date=2019-09-21|website=British Theatre|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-27}}</ref> However on 27 March 2020 it was announced the remainder of the tour had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web|last=@GhostStoriesUK|date=27 March 2020|title=An update for our GhostStories UK Tour ticket holders.|url=https://twitter.com/GhostStoriesUK/status/1243522104756244483|access-date=8 August 2021|website=Twitter}}</ref> Another UK tour began in January 2025, opening at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, touring until September 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-17 |title=Ghost Stories National Tour Announced for 2025 |url=https://www.londontheatre1.com/theatre-news/ghost-stories-national-tour-announced-for-2025/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=LondonTheatre1 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Following the tour, the production will return to the West End at the Peacock Theatre for a Halloween season from 30 September to 8 November 2025.

=== Other global productions === In 2015, the show was produced at the Sydney Opera House<ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okhTgH8zBTA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404205109/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okhTgH8zBTA |archive-date=2017-04-04 |url-status=dead |access-date=2021-06-09 |website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> before going on an Australian National Tour concluding at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia in October 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-01 |title=Haunting pyschological [sic] thriller Ghost Stories to tour Australia from July |url=https://www.theaureview.com/arts/haunting-pyschological-thriller-ghost-stories-to-tour-australia-from-july/ |access-date=2021-06-09 |website=The AU Review |language=en-AU}}</ref> The play was also performed in Toronto (2011), Russia (2012), Peru (2015), China (2018), Finland (2018) and The Netherlands (2019).<ref name="ThePlay" />

==Plot== The play is notable for running only 80 minutes (with no interval) and for its publicized warnings advising against anyone under the age of 15 attending.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eventseeker.com/artist/4401-ghost-stories |title=Ghost Stories - Artist Profile |access-date=2020-02-27}}</ref> The marketing of the show outside the theatre is unusual in that there are no production photographs, just stills and video monitors showing the shocked reactions of audience members. An announcement at the end of the play asks the audience to "keep the secrets of Ghost Stories" so that new audiences do not have the experience spoiled with any prior information about the play.<ref name="CS">{{cite journal |last=Spencer |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Spencer (journalist) |title=Ghost Stories at the Lyric Hammersmith, review |journal=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=2010-03-01 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7344945/Ghost-Stories-at-the-Lyric-Hammersmith-review.html |access-date=2010-09-02}}</ref>

Its plot and specific moments are sampled from various TV series and films including, most obviously, the episode ‘During Barty’s Party’ from Beasts by Nigel Kneale, Don’t Look Now, Halloween and Le Serpent.

Reviews of the show have confined themselves to outlining the basic structure of the plot, which revolves around Dr. Goodman, a Professor of Parapsychology delivering a lecture on ghost stories.<ref name="LG">{{cite journal | last = Gardner | first = Lyn | author-link = Lyn Gardner | title = Ghost Stories: Lyric Hammersmith, London | journal = The Guardian | location = London | date = 2010-03-02 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/02/ghost-stories-theatre-review | accessdate = 2010-09-02 }}</ref> In the lecture, he discusses a website featuring ghostly pictures, [http://www.scienceofghosts.com/ scienceofghosts.com].<ref name="whingers">{{cite web | work = West End Whingers | title = Review - Ghost Stories, Lyric Hammersmith |author=Phil |author2=Andrew | date = 2010-03-03 | url = http://westendwhingers.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/review-ghost-stories-lyric-hammersmith/ | accessdate = 2010-12-07 }}</ref> He has recorded interviews with three people who claim to have had a supernatural experience. Each story seems to hinge on guilty feelings.<ref name="TP">{{cite journal | last = Taylor | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Taylor (critic) | title = Ghost Stories, Lyric Hammersmith, London | journal = The Independent | publisher = Independent Print | location = London | date = 2010-03-09 | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/ghost-stories-lyric-hammersmith-london-1918303.html | accessdate = 2010-09-02 }}</ref> As each interview is played back, the story is re-enacted on stage. The stories are recounted by a night watchman, a teen driver and a businessman awaiting his first child.<ref name="AJ">{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Angela |author-link=Angela Johnson (critic) |title=Review: Ghost Stories at the Liverpool Playhouse |journal=Click Liverpool |publisher=Mecury[sic]Press Agency |location=Liverpool |date=2010-02-10 |url=http://www.clickliverpool.com/culture/reviews/127965-review-ghost-stories-at-the-liverpool-playhouse.html |access-date=2010-09-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119121356/http://www.clickliverpool.com/culture/reviews/127965-review-ghost-stories-at-the-liverpool-playhouse.html |archive-date=19 January 2013 }}</ref> These stories are then drawn together at the end, with a twist, as it becomes clear that the Professor is a participant in the stories and not simply a narrator.<ref name="CS" />

== Critical reception == Reviewing the 2010 production, ''The Guardian'' called the stories "as substantial and troubling as the fake ectoplasm manifested by a dodgy medium"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-03-02|title=Theatre review: Lyn Gardner on Ghost Stories|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/02/ghost-stories-theatre-review|access-date=2021-08-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> while, in the same newspaper, a real-life psychic ghost hunter was quoted as saying the play "was refreshing, and made me jump, several times."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-03-16|title=Ghost hunter Ian Shillito on Ghost Stories|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/16/theatre|access-date=2021-08-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> After revisiting the play in 2019, the newspaper concluded it had become more elegant over the years, but remained "more playful than petrifying."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-14|title=The week in theatre: West Side Story; Little Miss Sunshine; Ghost Stories – review|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/14/west-side-story-royal-exchange-manchester-review-little-miss-sunshine-arcola-ghost-stories-lyric|access-date=2021-08-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> ''Time Out'' called the play a "harrowing, 80-minute nightmare thrill."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ghost Stories review, Lyric Hammersmith, London, 2019|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/ghost-stories-review-at-lyric-hammersmith--tight-thrilling-terrifying|access-date=2021-08-08|website=The Stage|language=En}}</ref>

==Cast and characters== {| class="wikitable" |+ ! rowspan="2" |Character !Liverpool / Hammersmith / West End !West End revival !Hammersmith revival !West End revival ! colspan="2" |UK tour !West End revival |- !2010 !2014 ! colspan="2" |2019 !2020 ! colspan="2" |2025 |- !Professor Philip Goodman | align=center |Andy Nyman | align=center |Paul Kemp | colspan="2" align="center" |Simon Lipkin | align=center |Joshua Higgott | align=center |Dan Tetsell | align=center |Jonathan Guy Lewis |- !Tony Matthews | align=center |David Cardy | align=center |Phillip Whitchurch | colspan="2" align="center" |Garry Cooper | align=center |Paul Hawkyard | colspan="2" align="center" |David Cardy |- !Simon Rifkind | align=center |Ryan Gage | align=center |Chris Levens | colspan="2" align="center" |Preston Nyman | align=center |Gus Gordon | align=center |Eddie Loodmer-Elliott | align=center |Preston Nyman |- !Mike Priddle | align=center |Nicholas Burns | align=center |Gary Shelford | colspan="3" align="center" |Richard Sutton | colspan="2" align="center" |Clive Mantle |- !The Others* | align="center" |Lewis Peploe | align="center" |Dino Fetscher | align="center" |Roly Botha | colspan="4" align="center"|Lloyd McDonagh |} *Previously credited as "Fight and Movement Director" until the 2025 West End revival

=== Notable replacements ===

==== West End (2010) production ==== * '''Professor Philip Goodman''' - Reece Shearsmith

== Creative teams ==

=== Original Liverpool and London production ===

* '''Written by''' Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman * '''Directed by''' Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes * '''Associate Director''' Sean Holmes and Joe Murphy * '''Designed by''' Jon Bausor * '''Lighting by''' James Farncombe * '''Sound by''' Nick Manning * '''Special Effects by''' Scott Penrose

== Film adaptation == {{main|Ghost Stories (2017 film)}} A film adaptation premiered in 2017, starring Nyman in a reprisal of his role as Professor Philip Goodman, Paul Whitehouse as the night watchman, Alex Lawther as the student, and Martin Freeman as the businessman.<ref name="Bradshaw">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/05/ghost-stories-review-martin-freeman-paul-whitehouse-london-film-festival-2017|title=Ghost Stories review – Martin Freeman and Paul Whitehouse shine in dreamlike spookfest|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Peter|website=The Guardian|date=5 October 2017 |access-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEU5ebf4h6U Trailer, 17 March 2010]

Category:British plays Category:Horror plays Category:Plays about ghosts Category:2010 plays Category:West End plays Category:Ghost stories