THE ENFIELD HAUNTING
BY PAUL UNWIN
AMBASSADORS THEATRE
Cast
Catherine Tate, David Threlfall, Grace Molony, Ella Schrey-Yeats, Mo Sesay, Noah Leggott, Jude Coward-Nicoll, Neve McIntosh, Jasmine Spence.
Director
Set and Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Illusions consultant
Movement Consultant
Assistant Director
Company Stage Manager
Deputy Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Costume Supervisor
Props Supervisor
Wardrobe Manager
Assistant Designer
Production Manager
Set built by
Produced by
General Managed by
Photographed by
Angus Jackson
Lee Newby
Neil Austin
Carolyn Downing
Paul Kieve
Laura Cubitt
Roberta Zuric
Rebecca James
Olivia Roberts
Erin Davies
Joan Hughes
Fahmida Bahkt
Lisa Brindley
Tallulah Caskey
Patrick Molony
TR2
MarketStall Productions
The Development Partnership
Smith & Brant Theatricals
Gavin Kalin Productions
Sayers & Sayers Productions Ltd
Eilene Davidson Productions
Fiona Steed
for Smith & Brant
Marc Brenner
Lee Newby’s set design emanates the suburban gothic of Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black – a traditional, working-class drawing room with gas heater and blockish TV set, and a bedroom upstairs.
THE GUARDIAN
★★★
Lee Newby’s designs deliver pungent period detail: a crumbling, two-storey cross section of the house exposes mildew and peeling wallpaper, the girls’ bedroom with its posters of David Essex and Starsky and Hutch, and Top of the Pops on the black-and-white television in the lounge. Janet’s scarlet nightie, memorable from the famous photograph of her ‘levitation’, is a visual motif, bright among the beige and grey.
THE STAGE
★
The set designed by Lee Newby, as if the family's house had been ripped open for us to peer into brings the right air of menace
THE EVENING STANDARD
★★
The greatest thing about The Enfield Haunting is undoubtedly in the visual aspect, with Lee Newby delivering a truly sensational set design painstakingly crafting both an upstairs and downstairs of the Hodgson’s home. This design helped retain your attention as your eyes darted across both levels to ensure you weren’t missing the next trick. It is just a shame such a fantastic design wasn’t utilised for a stronger show. Similarly, Neil Austin’s lighting was used to great effect with the inevitable blackouts leading to an eerie aesthetic as parts of the stage are left in darkness sporadically. The strong design aspects are completed by Carolyn Downing’s sound design, allowing for an atmospheric setting.
ALL THAT DAZZLES
★★