A limited run of The Enfield Haunting has haunted the west end. Its run directed by Paul Unwin. It tells the story of the ever questioned Enfield Haunting, was a poltergeist really present or was it two young girls up to Tom foolery?
The cast boats of the ever funny Catherine Tate as Peggy Hodgeson, David Therelfall as Maurice Grosse, Ella Schrey-Yates as Janet Hodgeson, Grace Molony as Margaret Hodgeson, Mo Sesay as Rey, Neve Mcintosh as Betty Grosse, Daniel Stewart as man and understudy Maurice, Gareth Radcliffe as Billy and Understudy Rey and Man, Stacha Hicks as understudy Peggy and Betty and Jasmine Spence as understudy Janet and Margaret. The role of Jimmy Hodgeson is shared by Jude Coward Nicoll and Noah Leggot
The stage is set as a house that looks like it’s been cut in half designed by Lee Newby as its impressive, it’s a council house in 1978 and the dark walls and dated furniture do give it an eerie feel. I must admit I expected the pre show music to give us a spooky chill however pop music was played.
The entire show is set in the house so the scenery doesn’t change much apart from when the poltergeist strikes. Catherine Tate delivers a comedic performance however I’m not entirely sure the play was intended to be funny.
75 minutes should fly by but sadly it seemed to go on forever, the whole play felt fumbled with Peggy Hodgeson being ignored by most characters over and over again. The writing felt like it was being pulled in several directions with no true plot line that stuck. The odd take on the already very interesting story left us feeling like nothing actually happened in a very long 75 minutes.
The play forewarns of flashing lights and jump scares and should have included extreme sleepiness. The jump scares are well done but few and far between and feel crowbarred in to a play that’s only other jump scare is the script.
I really do feel this could have been an excellent show. Especially with other shows in the west end giving us such spectacular visual effects at the moment (Stranger Things springs to mind) The Enfield Haunting just doesn’t live up to standard.
⭐️ - Boo’s Reviews
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