DARKER SHORES AT THE ARTS THEATRE
Possession from another world of Chipo Kureya, right to the horror of right to left, Maxwell Caulfield Michael Praed and Juliet Mills
A night at the theatre with a Victorian ghost story is a tempting prospect. Nothing is so seductive as a haunted house by the sea, a ghastly ghostly secret add crashing waves and sinister noises off and the scene is set for a spine tingling tale of horror. Add in some splendid actors at the zenith of their powers and you have the perfect set up for a traditional chilling psychodrama - with crinolines thrown in.
The breathtakingly dramatic set of The Darker Shores was a treat in itself, every detail was so authentic the perfect backdrop to the story of a man troubled by sadness and spirits and his flawed guide, an American expert on the supernatural.
Chipo Kureya Maxwell Caulfield and Juliet Mills join in a seance
Maxwell Caulfield plays troubled Professor Gabriel Stokes , a Fellow of King’s College Cambridge , a man set on a challenge to the new upstart Charles Darwin and the defiant theory that Man is descended from the Apes. It is 1878. Like many in his era, the later part of the 19th Century, Professor Stokes is an ordained man of the cloth,,as were so many Fellows of Colleges at that time, and he is passionately determined to take Charles Darwin to the cleaners.His views are clipped crisp High Anglican catechised dogmatic. Imagine then how horrified he is when he feels he is seeing visions and is driven to consult a Spiritualist healer in Covent Garden none other than Dr. Tom Beauregard.
Michael Praed gives us Beauregard with stylish skill. He counters the bumbling Stokes with urbane Kentucky charm and looks every inch the part of a Southern gentleman in the steps of Rhett Butler. But is he a fraud , a fake or a healer? There is certainly more to him that surface Southern gallantry. Both men face off in an opening scene and stay locked in conflict for the rest of the play. No mystery about their abilities they are both masters of their thespian art and carry the action on with great style.
Juliet Mills, acting aristocracy - her secret magic must be how to look so old on stage and be so glamorous in real life. She plays the part of the all knowing housekeeper literally conjuring tricks and lies to thicken the plot But is she a sad grieving widow or an evil conjuror , sacrificing innocent song birds behind the scenes?. Outside the waves crash against the rocks and supernatural interventions contrive to chill ,sometimes so loudly the actors’ lines are lost. Chipo Kureya, the cheeky maid, is the brilliant actress who makes up the powerful foursome given the daunting task of bringing the script to life. Her transition from winsome servant through deceitful maid to possessed medium takes some demonic energy and she is fully convincing throughout.
Starring some amazing sound effects, the production is kind of combination of Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes on manoeuvres somewhere strange with a supernatural element running through it. Possibly the author tries too much with a series of puzzling tropes and. Interlocking stories, but nonetheless in the hands of these experienced actors and an inspired set the evening simply flashes by, in a most mysterious way. Are hidden forces at work?
