Blue Orange Arts brings the well-known Charles Dickens play: The Hanged Man’s Bride to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe in the form of one-man story telling play. After a man travels to stop in a hotel in Leicester, he hears the tale of cruel man who has been hung for murdering his wife some years back with arsenic, an intriguing tale but it is not one that provokes any real reaction from our main man. It’s not until he enters his room, the clock strikes 8 and a strange staff member appears that story is truly delved into in its horrid entirety.
The play starts off rather slowly, our main character is a rather unlikable soul who’s only worry in life is when he should officially leave his wife for his teenage lover. This is the classic flawed main character with a lesson or two to learn. That lesson comes in the form of a gravelly grotesque staff member who takes us into the interesting story of the hanged man properly.
All roles are played by actor James Nicholas and the pace really begins to pick up.
Nicholas is a skilled storyteller and the grotty character really suites his skills well. He is compelling and easy to watch and listen to as well as easy to loathe. His voice is articulate and his switch between roles is for the most part very easy to identify and follow.
The story itself is dark, even without the ghost story aspects, its incredibly violent and hard to listen to, but that doesn’t mean that the audience don’t want to hear what happens next. We eagerly await on how our horrid abusing; greedy protagonist will get his comeuppance. If you are a fan of old horror stories of ghosts, murder and revenge then this is definitely a show for you.
Charles Dickens: The Hanged Man’s Bride plays Aug 6-10, 12-17, 19-23 16:15 at The Space@ Symposium Hall – Annexe.
Buy Tickets at Charles Dickens: The Hanged Man’s Bride | Theatre | Edinburgh Festival Fringe (edfringe.com)
Reviewer: Beth Eltringham
Reviewed: 6th August 204
North West End UK Rating: