The Haunting of Blaine Manor – Epstein Theatre

Halloween may have passed, with thoughts turning towards mince pies and Maria Carey, but our ensemble tonight is not quite ready for us to completely escape all things that go bump in the night.

Written and directed by award-winning writer Joe O’Byrne, ‘…Blaine Manor’ takes us back to the 1950s, introducing us to renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, (Peter Slater) famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums.

He has been invited to a séance at the most haunted building in England, but it soon becomes clear that there are more demons lurking than just the ones that Blaine Manor claims to house. As a storm sets in, secrets and lies are ripe for revealing, as well as the manor’s more unearthly inhabitants.

The Epstein is an excellent choice for tonight’s proceedings, bringing its own creaking walls and clanging pipes, adding to the building sense of intrigue we have in O’Byrne’s cleverly witty and well-paced story.

And, with there being points tonight where the actors are wrestling against the booming notes of ‘House of the Rising Sun’ echoing from the pub next door, there’s almost a ‘Macbeth’-like sense of an underlying curse, especially after O’Byrne shares that tonight’s show might not have gone ahead at all with one of the actors being taken seriously ill the day before. (And we send our very best wishes for Ed Barry’s speedy recovery).

However, a last-minute understudy has been found to do the performance script in hand and a huge gold star goes to Steven Cain, who steps into the role of fellow houseguest Vincent De Lambré and delivers a solid performance, given the circumstances.

We are also joined by Jo Haydock as journalist Vivian Rutledge, looking and sounding like she climbed straight out of the pages of an Agatha Christie, providing a nice contrast to the drawling Southern US charm of Earle. The dynamic between the two occasionally lacks a bit of chemistry but there are some nice moments of sparring between the cynical Earle and Rutledge’s more open-minded approach to the paranormal.

The remaining members of our troupe are Andrew Yates as Cairo – the Medium that Earle is itching to debunk and Jimmy Allen as Adolphus Scarabus, a fellow investigator of the unexplained. Both provide great support and crackle nicely against Earle’s jibes (although both Yates and Slater have some patchy moments with their characters’ respective accents, especially when clashing with each other).

Finally, O’Byrne makes an appearance too as the mysterious Grady. Initially mistaken by Earle as a household servant, Grady’s true nature is something far more unnerving. There are some excellent moments of tension between the two, although you feel that O’Byrne could really push Grady’s creepiness up a level as we build towards the tense finale.

What really sells tonight is the excellent lighting and sound work by David Heald and Justin Wetherill respectively. Wetherill’s soundscape, moving between deeply reverberating cracks of thunder to something far more spine-chilling, is particularly effective, provoking audible reactions from an unnerved audience.

Overall tonight is a demonstration of fine storytelling, laced with enough enthral and deception to make the familiar conclusion a satisfying one.

The Haunting of Blaine Manor returns at the Carnegie Theatre, Workington on 19th November with further UK dates in 2023. For what’s on at the Epstein Theatre, visit https://www.epsteintheatre.co.uk

Reviewer: Lou Steggals

Reviewed: 4th November 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★★