Theatre Review - The Haunting of Blaine Manor

Welcome!

Very mild Spoilers!

I did something I haven't done in many years.  Visited the theatre to watch a play.  I'm not usually one for watching theatre productions but I feel after watching the fantastic and eerie Haunting of Blaine Manor I will make the effort to go more often and support the theatre and arts.

A few weeks ago on the bus home with my daughter we saw an advert for The Haunting of Blaine Manor.  We were intrigued and as October is spooky season looked into it and booked.  The trailer for the play hooked me straight away.

The story, set in 1953, follows Doctor Roy Earle (played by Peter Slater), a sceptic of the paranormal and debunker.  He's been invited by the owner of Blaine Manor, Mister Tyler to attend a seance and prove the house isn't haunted.

The séance is held by Cairo (played by Andrew Yates).  A renowned mind reader and spiritualist. 

Other guest include Vivian Rutledge (played by Jo Haydock). A well known reporter.  Vincent De Lambre (played by Ed Barry).  The lawyer of Mister Tyler.

There is also Adolphus Scarabus (played by Jimmy Allen). An eccentric Psychic medium.

Lastly there is Grady (played by Joe O'Byrne). He's the mysterious butler of the house.

The characters give their back stories as they unravel the mystery of the missing owner Mister Tyler and whether the house is really haunted and by what.

Overall -  A fantastic production, with a story that kept you engaged all the way through.  With relevations about the characters throughout and twist and turns including a twist at the end I didn't see coming.

With theatre, it's more about character than spectacle unlike most films at the cinema and it was a credit to the writing and acting that kept you watching.  Although there were some scares due to lighting and sound at the right moments.

The story of the house and characters felt real with some good back stories and Joe O'Byrne who not only played the butler Grady but also wrote and directed it did a splendid job of all three.

You can see what influences he had.  From old ghost stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Hammer horror.  There was also some humour in there, that reminded me of  The League of Gentlemen TV series.  They too were inspired by classic horror.

The acting was spot on from all the cast including Joe O'Byrne.

The characters on stage the most were Peter Slater as Roy Earle and Jo Haydock as Vivian Rutledge and they held everything together well and didn't miss a beat.

A favourite character of mine was Andrew Yates as Cairo.  He looked like Richard O'Brien from the Crystal Maze but sounded like Londo from Babylon 5.

Jimmy Allen as Adolphus Scarabus was fun to watch too chasing around invisible spooks. 

Ed Barry as Vincent De Lambre was great too with a more serious tone.

Credit goes to the rest of the Blaine Manor crew for lighting and sound.  Although the first five minutes were hard to hear but I think it was just us adjusting to listening to a stage performance.

The staff of the Victoria Theatre were great at their roles and friendly.

A sign that we enjoyed the show was that it went fast.  Too fast.  With two 50 minute acts, they only felt like 15 minutes each and we wanted more.

Joe even came out at the end and thanked the audience and staff which was nice.

I would definitely watch anything the Blaine Manor team create next and wish them great success with the spooky, twisty tale.

Only gripe is drinking lager from what looked like a gravy jug.

Bels Score  -  10/10

My Score    -   10/10

Neil x

Book Review - Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

 

Books Read in 2024 - No. 3

Hey Book Dragons!

At last I've finished Guards! Guard's! By Sir Terry Pratchett.  

I started the novel on the 8th of March of 2024.  That's almost 7 months ago.

I have to admit as much as TP is one of my favourite authors, I don't always get his novels.  I couldn't get into The Colour of Magic and only read a couple of chapters.

I've read Mort and Hogfather years ago. Hogfather was fine but with Mort it was a struggle.

My favourite book of the Discworld so far is The Truth.  I took it on holiday and it's great. I was laughing so much and read it in 4 days.

I was then stuck with the question, which Terry Pratchett book do I read now?

After many recommendations and watching Booktube channels I decided on Guard's Guard's and the City Watch series set in the Discworld.  Although, I've gone crazy and collected most of the City Watch books before finishing Guard's Guard's.

The book introduces Sam Vimes, Captain of the Watch.  He's a drunken loser at the beginning of the book.  In charge of a mostly forgotten and ignored law enforcement with only two other members. 

They are Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobby.  They are joined by Carrot near the beginning of the book who is a tall guy who thinks he is a dwarf.  This is because he has been raised by them in the mines.  He's obsessed with joining the City Watch and has studied the laws.

 A sinister cult who are wanting change and to take over the city of Ankh-Morpork, summon a dragon to wreck the city and put in charge a hero to slain the dragon, who they can then control as a King.

This is when the City Watch must act and save the day.  But will Vimes stay sober long enough?

Overall -

Guards! Guards! is now my second favourite Terry Pratchett novel. It's funny and made me chuckle quite a few times.  It's also superbly written.  Saying that, it is written unconventionally with no chapters.  A paragraph can switch to a different POV without warning, but it works.

The characters are three dimensional and in future books I hope to see more of Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobby.

As ever with TP, his world building is fantastic and reflects our own.  With themes of royalty and class and how people always want more until they have it. Plus how some people are happy as they are in society. 

I did enjoy the book a lot but could be hard going in places.  I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't taken so long and read it through quickly.  When I started reading Guards! Guards!, I read the first 40 pages in an hour.  Sadly with going back to work from sick this tailed off.

I now know, I need a better reading (and writing) routine.

Score -  8.5/10

October 2024 - Update

 

Welcome to October!

October/Halloween/Fall is my favourite time of the year.

When the leaves turn to shades of gold and red, the weather gets colder,  but not too cold.  Horror stories are the main theme and Halloween decorations adorn houses, shops and cafes.

I love it.  Even better than the over hyped Christmas season.

September Review - 

My highlight in September was going to Edge-lit 10 in Derby, at the start of the Month.  Seeing and meeting authors and entertainers.  See my previous two blog posts for a run through of the event.

It has been brought to light that for now The Quad, where Edge-lit takes place is staying open and continuing with the event.  This is great news although they are stopping some regular activities which is a shame.  So go visit the Quad in Derby and give some support.  Google them for full details.

In October -

I will most definitely be finished reading both Guards Guards and 77 Shadow Street.  I'm basically at the end of each book.  The next book I read will be spooky as well for Halloween.

Going to Edge-lit has inspired me to write again.  By Halloween I will have finished my short story The Cubby Hole.

I'm doing something I haven't done in a very long time.  I'm off to see a spooky play at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax.  

Called The Haunting of Blaine Manor, it has great reviews and perfect for October and Halloween.

See the link to their trailer below.  I will post a review of it on the blog also.

https://youtu.be/VovjdQ91IJY

Enjoy Halloween Month...

Neil x

Edge-Lit 10 - Quick Walk Through - Part 2

Hi Book Nerds!

Continuing the walk through of my experience at Edge-Lit 10 in Derby in early September.

Just had lunch so onto .........

Panel 3 - To Infinity and Beyond - The Rise of Modern SF.

This was an interesting panel and a favourite of mine as you found out some back story into New Doctor Who from author and writer Robert Shearman.  He has written for Television including Doctor Who and wrote one of my favourite Ninth Doctor episodes - Dalek.

Joining him was horror and Doctor Who author Mark Morris.  

Author of Doctor Who and Star Trek - Lower Decks, Chris Farnell was there too.  The last author was Tom Toner.  Peter Allison was the host.  He is also a writer and journalist.

They talked about modern science fiction and how it holds up today.  Tom let slip his Mum worked on classic Doctor Who on the backgrounds and Rob became an excited fan again.

Panel 4 - In Conversation with Sarah Pinborough.

Mark Morris interviewed prolific writer and author Sarah Pinborough.  Sarah is quite a regular at Edge-lit as I'm sure I've seen her every year I've been going.  She usually calls out at the raffle and is funny and R-rated.

Sarah told us a bit about her life and that to date she has written about 29 novels.  These include Insomnia, which she adapted into a television show for Paramount. She has also written Behind Her Eyes, now a Netflix show.

I'm sure she mentioned how she got into writing and that it was later in life but she has been writing ever since.  Sarah also talked about her screen writing and how it differs from novel writing.

Mark was impressed as Sarah once wrote two separate trilogies at the same time.  One YA and the other Fantasy.  I will definitely be checking her novels out now.

Panel 5 - In Conversation with Charlie Higson and Robin Ince.

Interviewed by author Johnny Mains.  Fast Show comedian and author of the Young Bond novels, spoke about his writing, dark humour again and briefly about Fast Show.

Author and broadcaster Robin Ince also spoke about his work and new book Bibliomania.

Again an interesting talk, finding out about the two authors.  My only regret is not going up to Charlie and saying hello and how much I enjoyed his comedy.

Raffle -

Sarah Pinborough again hosted the raffle.  For the first time since I've attended Edge-lit, I actually won a prize.  I was the first to win something.  I won 2 books from Indie Publisher, Northodox Press.  I won on orange number 477. 

Night Out.

After Edge-lit I had a great night out meeting old friends Kevin and Hayley.  Plus met new ones including Owain, Tom, Helen, Phillip, Donna and Neil.  Also a few that names escape me. Sorry.

Overall Edge-lit 10 was a fantastic time and one of my favourites.  They just need to bring a lunch hour back for Edge-lit 11.

Neil x

Edge-lit 10 Quick walk through -Part 1

 

Welcome Geeks!

Nearly two weeks ago I was leaving home to journey to Derby for a great time and experience.  

I met old friends and made some new ones and chatted about our love of story and writing.  I also attended some great panels featuring some top notch authors and entertainers.

I didn't make any notes like I did at the first couple of Edge-lits I attended, as I wanted to enjoy and take in the atmosphere.

Panel 1 - Why so serious? The comedy of horror.

This was an interesting panel which explored comedy in horror and vice versa.  With comedy shows like The League of Gents mainly being horror but the situations having comedy injected into it.

The panel had Peep Show and writer Isy Suttie, Fast Show comedian and writer Charlie Higson, comedian and author Robin Ince and writer and Doctor Who script writer Rob Sherman.  Hosting the panel was author Johnny Mains.

It was a great and humourous panel and they discussed how horror has a punchline like comedy, building up to a scare.

Panel 2 - Echoes of the Past - How History Shapes Genre Fiction.

This was an interesting panel discussing how genre is set in certain historical settings.  Mostly fantasy is set in the middle ages time period.

Chaired by author Charlotte Bond, the panel included Malaysian fantasy author Zen Cho, writer Sarah Brooks and horror and fantasy author Stephen Volk.

They discussed the growing influence of Chinese and Asian history for genre settings.  Also mentioned was genre fiction set in the 1800s with Stephen saying he would like to live in the 1850s.

Lunch -

Sadly there's no breaks anymore, which is a shame as the first couple of Edge-lits started earlier and there was an hour for lunch so you could mingle with others. 

That's now gone which is annoying because if you're hungry or need a break it means you miss out on an hour of panels or workshops.  Myself and my writing pal Steve agreed it would be good to bring it back.  The Quad would make extra money serving more drinks and lunches.

To be continued....

Edge-lit 10 and Derby Photos!

Hello Nerds!

At the weekend I went to Derby, to the Quad, and attended the tenth Edge-lit event.

An event for readers and writers of horror, fantasy, science fiction and more.

I really enjoyed the event this year and fingers crossed it won't be the last one.  I met some old friends and made new ones.

Here are some photos from Edge-lit and Derby over the weekend.  I hope to make a future post later this week giving more details.

Neil x