A nightmare is about to break free at Lighthouse as “Northern Horror Makers”, Thunder Road Theatre visit with their touring production of Shock Horror on Wednesday 5 November.
With a blend of live performance and illusion and film, the show is set in an abandoned cinema – the Metropol – making it the perfect treat for fans of classic horror films such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist and The Shining. It has also been described as Stranger Things meets The Woman in Black.
Writer-director Ryan Simons is a Yorkshire-based playwright and film maker. He trained as a writer with Hull Truck and his television work includes EastEnders, Emmerdale and Spooks.
Here, he tells us more about Shock Horror…
How does directing for a horror theatre show differ from directing a regular play?
Horror shows are very precise to direct. Scares have a delicate balance that require all the building blocks of action, light and sound to be aligned perfectly in order to deliver the killer burst of tension the audience crave. But most of all, horror is not about the monster jumping out on us, it’s about the slow creep up to where it’s hiding.
How would you describe the play?
A ghost story blended with iconic horror cinema that delivers thrills, chills and jump scares. At the heart of Shock Horror lies the touching story of a haunted child, that leaves the audience wondering whether the true horror of the play is nature or nurture.
It sounds like 70s and 80s horror films have inspired the play. Can you tell us more?
Ever since A Nightmare on Elm Street traumatised me to ‘never sleep again’, I became fascinated with 80s horror and its unique ability to terrify with a smile. The Shining, Poltergeist, Hellraiser and the many late 70s horrors that didn’t bleed into the UK home video market until the early 80s have all kept me awake in the dark and inspired me to weave those nightmares into the world of Shock Horror.
What are your top tips for people interested in writing for theatre and film?
Just start. Accept that not everything you write will be brilliant, that’s okay, writing is rewriting, first you build, then you chip away at the bits you don’t want and then you polish to make it sound better when spoken out loud.
That last point is really important! Theatre is designed to be spoken out loud, it’s not an essay. Fancy words and a well-structured sentence don’t fit every character. Most people I know speak in… fractured… sort of… you know… broken sentences.
- Shock Horror can be seen in the Theatre on Wednesday 5 November. Tickets available now at https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/shock-horror/ or on 01202 280000.
Header image by Marc Brenner
