The Monkey’s Paw, currently haunting the intimate Hope Theatre, is a stage adaptation of the classic supernatural tale of the same name. This version narrows its focus onto a young married couple wrestling with real-world struggles, mounting bills and the deep emotional fallout of a recent miscarriage.
The show opens with a beautifully staged movement sequence tracing their relationship from first sparks of romance to marriage, pregnancy, and heartbreak. It’s wordless but full of emotional detail, giving the audience a sense of the life they’ve built, and what they’ve lost, before the supernatural intervenes.
When a mysterious talisman, the titular monkey’s paw, enters their lives, it allows them to grant their desperate wish: a child of their own. But as with all good cautionary tales, the price of desire is steep, and fate has a twisted sense of humour. Their wish is granted — just not in the way they hoped. The baby they receive is the rag doll that already sat in their home, now disturbingly alive. The mother embraces it instantly, while the father becomes the reluctant outsider, unable to bond with the creature that clearly favours its new “mum.”
The production cleverly uses puppetry to show the rag doll as alive, with the chilling sound of “Mama.”
The rag doll also had a sudden bite to the father, showcasing that this is no miracle child. These unsettling details accumulate into something quietly unsettling.
Where this adaptation really excels is in how viscerally it depicts the child’s… transformation. As it “grows,” the mum peels away its rag-skin layer at the face — a grotesque but strangely tender act of care. It’s this willingness to let the horror seep in slowly, through love as much as fear, that makes the story so chilling.
Overall, this is a gripping and powerfully unsettling production. Despite the small venue, the cast draw you completely into the couple’s claustrophobic world. For the length of the performance, the Hope Theatre dissolves away, leaving you held tight in a nightmare stitched together by grief, longing, and the haunting question: what would you risk to get the thing you want most?
The Monkey’s Paw runs until 8th November at the Hope Theatre, with tickets available at https://www.thehopetheatre.com/
Reviewer: Zain Russell
Reviewed: 23rd October 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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