Quis est iste qui venit?
I’ve just returned from seeing the Nunkie Theatre Company’s production of M.R. James’ Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad and The Ash Tree at the Barons Court Theatre — a charming tiny theatre in the basement of the The Curtain’s Up pub.
The two stories are related by RM Lloyd Parry, in full James garb on a minimal stage set (if indeed you could call it that) of chair, table, whisky bottle, candles, books and papers. The only lighting throughout the production comes from the candles which creates an authentic backdrop for the stories — you can almost imagine yourself a guest in James’ rooms in Kings College.
Parry plays a convincing James, a slightly stuffy and distracted academic but consummate story-teller, revelling in scaring his audience. The pacing of the story-telling is perfect, an occasional desk-slamming or book-dropping highlighting a particularly dramatic moment. However, as with James’ stories, the key is understatement, therefore there are no off-stage sound or lighting effects.
Knowing (and loving) the stories as well as I do, it can be easy to forget how disturbing they actually are. Particularly, Oh Whistle…, with its setting on a bleak wintertime Suffolk coastline and building sense of dread.
Well, wonderful stuff and good news about future productions – I notice from the back of the programme that Count Magnus is planned for Winter 2009.
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