Theatre of the Damned’s new play The Ghost Hunter is a one man play showing at The Old Red Lion theatre. Actor Tom Richards takes the audience on an hour long imaginary ghost tour of the city of York from the comfort of this pub whilst telling the audience tales of the life of a ghost hunter in a relaxed and casual manner.
It’s a tricky one to pull off. Ghost tours usually rely upon dark back alleys, Gothic churches and looming gargoyles to help the guide to create an atmosphere of terror so it’s a great task to build up the same tension when the sounds of clinking pints and shouting football fans interrupt every other minute. Richards is brilliant at holding the audience in captivation during the tales of plague and murdered children and there were several moments when icy chills ran around the room.
Yet the thrills of the ghosts are too often divided between personal stories of the life of the hunter himself. Richard’s breaks the tension quickly and effectively but there is a lot of repetition in the script and not enough macabre matter. However there are fun moments amongst the tour guide’s heavy reflection. Richards gives a convincing performance and clearly has the talent for pulling off a one man show and a surprising twist towards the end is exciting enough to keep horror hunters
happy.