Thoughts on Haunted Scouse at the Royal Court, Liverpool
Welcome to Beware of Creepy Houses where I share my thoughts on ghost stories and other creepy tales, recommend spooky yarns, and post writing prompts to help you with your own eerie (or not!) creative writing.
It’s Women’s History Month and this Friday will be International Women’s Day. There are some great female writers producing spooky tales, including Hilary Ayshford from last time, Rayne Hall (who also produces a fantastic line of writing craft books), and so many more! Loads of the classics were also produced by female writers, including Mary Shelley and Marjorie Bowen. I would absolutely love to hear about your favourite female fear inducing writers, and keep your eyes peeled (literally, or not…) for something spooky here on Friday!
But, back to the Royal Court, this play takes place in a haunted, but not too creepy, house. It’s a heartwarming comedy, so we’re light on the spooky themes this time around, but it’s a lot of fun. Be careful when you knock on the door. The decor has a tendency to jump around when disturbed.
Haunted Scouse, Royal Court Liverpool
The play is showing until 9 March at the Royal Court Liverpool and is a haunted house comedy, written by Gerry Linford and directed by Emma Bird. Charlie (Michael Starke) needs to solve the mystery of his own death so he can cross over to the other side, and while he’s doing that, he will also support his beloved bereaved wife, Molly (Lynn Francis) through her grief.
Molly’s house is welcoming and cosy, full of mementos of Charlie, but she is not coping and Charlie comes in to find her unconscious on the sofa, surrounded by wine bottles. The arrival of Molly’s bohemian and spiritual friend, Linda (Julie Glover) leads to the realisation that Charlie doesn’t know he’s dead, never mind that he has been for a whole year.
Linda takes Molly home for a refreshing cup of disgusting homemade herbal tea, and Charlie’s Aunty Peggy (Helen Carter), who died after being hit by a bus on Scottie Road when The Beatles were playing the Cavern, arrives. Peggy is there to counsel Charlie through his death, and more importantly, encourage him to work out the shocking truth of his untimely demise, so he can move forward properly into the afterlife.
But, Charlie begins to cling to Molly’s earthly presence, and his old enemy, slimy next-door neighbour, Gordon (Paul Duckworth) tries to get Molly, with her and Charlie’s money, to move on with him, so things quickly start to get complicated. And even worse, Linda just can’t pinpoint Charlie’s presence, no matter how many times she gets her chakras in a row.
The use of set is very clever, with lots of furniture and ornaments moving around of their own accord to really create that haunted house feeling. These magical movements combine nicely with the amazing physical comedy, such as when Starke moves objects around but the other cast members can’t see him and freak out. Lighting and sound enhance Charlie and Peggy’s ghostly activities and heighten Charlie’s sense of frustration that he can no longer interact with the physical world in the same way that he could when he was alive.
All of the cast members are very funny and Bird’s direction has allowed them to bring their own unique comic talents to each role. Duckworth’s sleazy personification is hilarious and his clashes with Glover are so funny, with both verbal and physical comedy emphasising the hatred between the two characters.
Starke and Francis’ relationship feels very genuine (they are actually married in real life!) and their honest portrayal of a 35 year marriage gives the play an emotional resonance which could easily have been missed. The chemistry between Starke and Carter is also fabulous as they veer from their original aunty/nephew dynamic to Charlie, the grown adult, being more determined to do things his way, unlike the little boy Peggy remembers from when she died.
Haunted Scouse is a fun and surprisingly poignant comedy, full of the Royal Court’s usual local and contemporary humour and bittersweet moments that had many audience members wiping away happy tears when the curtain fell.
As a side note, the show’s programme is also amazing, featuring ghost stories from the theatre itself. My favourite is Number 7: Crying Usher. Would love to hear which yours is and any ghostly theatre stories you’ve heard.
If you like this…
Read… PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern a romantic-comedy novel about Holly, whose terminally ill husband, Gerry, left her a series of letters to support her through her grief journey after he died.
Watch… Peep Show particularly Season 8 where Jeremy embarks on life coaching and gives deep, meaningful and ludicrous advice that Linda would be proud to offer to Molly.
Watch… Beetlejuice a classic haunted house comedy featuring the infamous Handbook for the Recently Deceased. The ghosts’ caseworker, Juno is so overworked, maybe Peggy can get a job there once the run has finished. They’re even both smokers. I see a beautiful friendship blossoming!
My short play, Ghost Light, performed as part of Liverpool Network Theatre Group’s Short but Sweet: Zoom Edition (from 1:36), features three resident theatre ghosts discussing how to survive the impact of lockdown on their beloved homes.
Writing prompt
Haunted Scouse features conversations between Charlie and Peggy about how much the world has changed since she died, for example there aren’t many books in Charlie’s house because he had them all on Kindle. My play Ghost Light features three ghosts from various historical periods who consequently see the world in different ways.
Think of a feature in your own local area which makes it unique, for example, I live near Antony Gormley’s Another Place which people find interesting and inspiring; lots of creative work features them (off the top of my head they appear in The Iron Men by Joe Lewis which I directed a few years ago and Debbi Voisey’s wonderfully poignant novella in flash, Only About Love). If you can, go to the location (if you can’t use the internet and your imagination) and make some notes about the sensory experience of it, for example, working with the iron men:
Sight: The statues are brown, rusty, heavy with barnacles and may appear to be real people from a distance. The beach has grey tones, is industrial and generally quite busy with lots of people walking dogs.
Sound: Seagull cries, waves crashing, the music from the ice cream van, dogs barking.
Smell: Salt air, cold winds.
Taste: Ice cream, hot chocolate.
Touch: Wet grainy sand, cold seawater, wafer ice cream cones, the silky ears of friendly dogs, the comfort of your coat.
Now, research the local history of your area, focusing on a particular event or period of significance. So here in Liverpool, I might look at the rise of The Beatles - I’m sure they also inspire lots of creative work but, unlike the iron men, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head…
Make some notes on the event you’ve chosen:
What happened?
What was the impact on your local area? Your county? The country as a whole? The world?
What was the impact on different types of people? Teenagers still at school? Newly married couples? Retired people with grandchildren?
Is the event something people still remember or has it faded with time?
If it’s still remembered, are there still traces of it, like museums, blue plaques, memorabilia sold in gift shops etc?
Now create two ghost characters who know each other; perhaps they are related or lived next door to each other. One character should be from the present day and one should be from the time of your researched event.
Pop your ghosts in your chosen location and allow them to have a conversation about how much the area has changed (if it has?) and how the world has changed since the older ghost passed. You can use your sensory details to explore how much your ghosts are aware of the physical world i.e. they might be able to see everything around them but not feel anything. There is also loads to explore about the changing world, from social media to artificial intelligence, and how this would be seen by someone from an earlier time.
I hope you find this prompt interesting and useful and I’d love to see anything you write from it.
Please also send over any stories you'd like me to cover and let me know what you think of Haunted Scouse if you see it.
Sending tricks and treats and feminism,
Donna
PS: I was reminded of this great cheesy song earlier when it was suddenly played on the radio. I’d honestly forgotten it existed and never even realised Darren from Hollyoaks was in it! Embrace the randomness…