The paranormal is now his new normal

REVIEW: The Signalman – Malvern Theatres (Wednesday, August 27 to Saturday, August 30).

Showtime! stars rating: * * * * *

GHOST stories adapted for the stage have suddenly started to become… well, truly ghoulish. And not before time, too.

After years of wading through treacle swamps of hyperactive journalistic hyperbole, the tsunami of guff associated with The Woman in Black being a prime example, at last we’re getting some real heart-stoppers.

And this Middle Ground Theatre Company’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens short story is most definitely in that category.

It takes quite a lot to moisten the palms of this old cynic, and for that excess of information we must thank not just an abundance of sharp acting, but also some extremely impressive special effects provided by the production crew.

So, without further ado, let’s hear it for White Tip Media, lighting man Bob Hodges and Lynette Webster, who provides music packed with disquieting quavers and semi-quavers calculated to set even the stoutest of hearts a-quiver. Gasp.

The signalman of the title is played with a graveyard gravitas by Chris Walker, a man tormented not just by his past, but also the present and the future, too. Thankfully, past present and the pluperfect seem to be absent from this catalogue of woe, but that’s probably small comfort as he spends night after spooky night in the eerily haunted eyrie that is his allotted workstation.

What doesn’t help his peace of mind is the frequent appearance of a spectral woman straddling the railway track, waving her arms about like a midnight teenager probably called Chantelle who’s necked too many shots on a Worcester Saturday night out. And let’s face it, that would be horrific enough.

Then there’s the poltergeist who has this habit of chucking books about the signal box, opening a cupboard without permission, and finally hurling a crucifix from a shelf. This I found profoundly disturbing, having experienced similar phenomena myself. Yes, really.

However, solace is at hand in the form of a friendly traveller who drops by and starts to keep the signalman company. John Burton brings a valise-load of Victorian authenticity to the role – the action is set in 1880 – right down to his Sherlock Holmes-style winter wear and the hip flask that is certainly going to get a good bashing as the mist-drenched murk starts to unveil its awful secrets.

Thankfully, our wayfarer manages to keep his cool despite everything, while at the same time the signalman gets decidedly flaky as the paranormal starts to become the new normal.

Why is this happening? Is our signalman haunted by some appalling occurrence, perhaps a disaster so horrendous that our lost soul cannot speak its name?

Directed and designed by Michael Lunney, the set itself is the magnificent creation of master scenic carpenter Andy Martin, who has sadly since passed away since the play’s tour started.

In particular, his centrepiece of a dark tunnel is a veritable pit of grim foreboding, a ghastly cavern in which not just trains, but also unspeakable demons will pass through.

Yes, this wonderful set is a fitting signing-off and epitaph to the man’s talent.

Francis Evelyn’s skilled adaptation of this little-known story is also a triumph and shows that it is possible for the subject to be rendered truly frightening, which is of course the purpose of the exercise.

Malvern Theatres is doing well for ghost stories at the moment. Last month, we had the palpitations provoking ordeal of Ghost Stories, and next month we have Strictly's Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley in 2:22 A Ghost Story, all of which seems to suggest that there is indeed a growing appetite for the genre.

And while it may not exactly be rocket séance – sorry! – this current preoccupation with the undead does indeed start to make you think. In the meantime, once you’ve recovered from that excruciating pun, pop along to the Festival Theatre before the show closes on Saturday. That’s if you dare, of course.