The Enfield Haunting - Brighton / Richmond / Ambassadors

[BurlyBeaR]

Facebook: “As for Catherine Tate’s acting, “Am I bovvered,” must have been her attitude to the project.” 🔥


We need a poll!

[mbinney]

I do feel for the cast because there's not a lot you can do with it. It's a play which manages to make the Enfield Poltergeist quite boring - how do you work with that as a performer? Threlfall tries his best to inject some life, but even then the line between Grosse's eccentric doddering and the meandering quality of some of the dialogue starts to blur, bringing any tension to a halt. 

It's a real shame because the general idea of it is very theatrical - a contained space, bubbling domestic tension, the question of whether someone is lying to you. But the atmosphere in the room on opening night was palpable, people were just not engaged. 

[BurlyBeaR]

Facebook:”we were sat near the back and my friend was asleep after 5 mins 😂 £32 per ticket not cheap x” 

😂

[vdcni]

Saw it tonight, avoid at all costs. Genuinely one of the most terrible nights in the theatre. How anyone thought this play was good enough to have a professional production is a mystery.

Catherine Tate looks like a deer in headlights, like she's arrived on stage and suddenly realised there's no actual character for her to play. I have no idea why she thought this was worth her time. David Threlfall at least has an actual character with some kind of arc but she has nothing to really work with.

The script is the main problem, completely inert, no real drama, and terrible dialogue. I felt sorry for the actors having to try and make something of this.

There is now an interval, we thought since the second act is only 40 minutes we might as well stay but the second act is even worse and given there is no real resolution or any real drama at all you wouldn't miss anything if you didn't.

Just a pointless waste of everyone's time.

[partytentdown]

I sort of want to see it now.

[sph]

Nov 23, 2023 8:37:47 GMT partytentdown said:

I sort of want to see it now.

It does bring out an almost morbid curiosity doesn't it?

Not a terribly good season for plays in the West End it seems.

[pws]

Oh dear, sorry, I think I missed the point of that.
It's not good that the cast still don't know their lines. Even for a short play it drags.
Some funny moments at the end.

[Steve]

Saw this tonight, and there is no story.

Watching David Threlfall being David Threlfall is a good thing.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Ok, there is a story, it lasts 5 minutes, in the body of a play running 2 hours, including one interval, and it answers the question why David Threlfall's Grosse has come to Enfield hunting Ghosts without his Ghostbusters partner, Playfair.

The 5 minute story feels like it's from a more innocent age, where in "The Twilight Zone" someone would want something paranormal to happen, it would happen, and then Rod Serling would say "Maybe it's possible in the Twilight Zone." The End.

Except this story is such a short amount of the running time, which is otherwise just "Here's a day in the life of the Enfield Haunting."

A day that simply depicts the "Haunting" and tells you definitively whether the Haunting is real or not, something that obviously doesn't matter, because they can tell you whatever they like, and it doesn't make it true.

So ultimately, you're left with the following things to enjoy:

(1) Threlfall's a great actor, and has a way of being on stage that compels moment to moment attention;

(2) Ella Shrey-Yates gives good Linda Blair from "The Exorcist;"

(3) The lighting person does a good Tate Modern "Lights on Lights Off" whenever the Sound person does a good shrill scary noise, ala 2:22, though this time its not foxes;

(4) The rest of the cast do a decent job of living a random day in a scary house.

I rate this two stars, mostly cos I like watching Threlfall, but I still can't believe how truncated the actual story is, and how the Enfield Haunting of the title is actually just background noise for this teeny tiny story!

[pws]

There was very half hearted applause at the end, but it picked up more in sympathy with the cast than for the show.
Walking up to the station, I heard 'awful' several times.
Such a shame.

[coco]

Reading the comments, I feel sorry for the cast. Can’t imagine how they gonna survive the West End run…

[pws]

Nov 23, 2023 23:22:35 GMT coco said:

Reading the comments, I feel sorry for the cast. Can’t imagine how they gonna survive the West End run…

Next week!

[stevej678]

Press night is supposedly Wednesday 6 December. Eek.

Such a shame. It certainly looks the part in the images that have been released. I've seen quite a bit of praise for Ella Schrey-Yeats' performance too. The source material is so strong and should lend itself well to a theatrical setting. A real missed opportunity that this take on it appears to be so misconceived. I can't recall such a near unanimously scathing reaction to a piece quite like this before.

Like others, I feel sorry for the cast. They must be aware of how the play is being received, both online and in the muted responses from audiences.

I'm booked for late December and still inclined to see it for myself. But you do have to wonder if it will even make it to the Ambassadors Theatre at this rate and, if it does, how long it can possibly last.

[Rory]

Sadly it won't last until January with feedback like that. It's a real shame. I had really wanted to see this but won't waste a slot on it now unless something drastically improves by opening night at the Ambassadors.

[amyja89]

Damn! Booked to see this on 28th of December. Interested to see if it evolves at all, or even makes it! At least it's a short experience if really that bad unlike Lyonesse.

[n1david]

I see that the producers are now intermittently responding on Facebook:

Hi, thank you for your feedback, we’ll be sure to pass this on. The production is still in previews meaning it is still being evolved as part of the creative process. We look forward to continuing to develop the show as we head to London.

[Rory]

Nov 24, 2023 12:38:46 GMT n1david said:

I see that the producers are now intermittently responding on Facebook:

Hi, thank you for your feedback, we’ll be sure to pass this on. The production is still in previews meaning it is still being evolved as part of the creative process. We look forward to continuing to develop the show as we head to London.

Yes, which has annoyed people, who have responded by saying they weren't charged preview prices in Brighton and Richmond. It's all a bit of a horlicks.

[mrbarnaby]

That will be marketing people replying. Not the producers.

[Jonnyboy]

If there’s so little plot how can any amount of developing and tweaking help? Other than writing a different play!

[amyja89]

I can certainly see them removing the interval and having it go straight through at 90-100 minutes. Removes the chance for any mass exits!

[BurlyBeaR]

It’s clearly going to go into the Ambassador’s pretty much as it is other than faffing with an interval so it’s puzzling to image why the producers think it will get a better reception there. Still getting universally panned on Facebook and some comments now being deleted which isn’t going down well.
Surely the leads will have been given the script to read before accepting the roles? Why didn’t they realise it was a dud?

[Rory]

Nov 24, 2023 16:00:59 GMT amyja89 said:

I can certainly see them removing the interval and having it go straight through at 90-100 minutes. Removes the chance for any mass exits!

They started with no interval in Brighton and then put one in in Richmond

[parsley1]

Nov 24, 2023 18:00:43 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

It’s clearly going to go into the Ambassador’s pretty much as it is other than faffing with an interval so it’s puzzling to image why the producers think it will get a better reception there. Still getting universally panned on Facebook and some comments now being deleted which isn’t going down well.
Surely the leads will have been given the script to read before accepting the roles? Why didn’t they realise it was a dud?

Ditto

Lyonesse

Ditto

Mates in Chelsea

The issue is often people are still have to pay to see crap theatre

[ploverlover]

Off to see this in Richmond tonight. Not holding out much hope after reading everyone’s comments… after paying £73 a ticket I’m praying for a miracle.

[cat6]

Jul 13, 2023 12:10:57 GMT nottobe said:

I'm certainly interested in the sound of this. Hopefully it will be on par with the horror in Ghost Stories rather than 2:22.

I am a little underwhelmed by Tate being in this as that Queen of Oz TV show was terrible but I have been a fan of her elsewhere.

Late to the party, but Queen of Oz had me in stitches!  Anyway, that's not what we're talking about. Enfield Haunting sounds interesting. But I'll be 3,400 miles away for its entire run.  Enjoy.

[ploverlover]

I’m actually feeling pretty angry about this. Went last night and it was not good at all. Then reading the responses to people’s comments on Facebook giving the excuse that it’s in previews right now, I’m fuming! How can they justify charging £73 a seat when the play is so clearly in need of some major fixing?
Saying that, I’m not sure it can be fixed.
We felt there were so many missed opportunities to make this interesting. The poor actors did their best, but the writing is stagnant.

The best bit for me was having a good giggle at memories of the French and Saunders Exorcist sketch ….

‘Your mother’s a biology teacher in Cheshire…’ 😂