As I left the Unity Theatre my mind was alight thinking of words to describe the play I’d just enjoyed – words such as Marvellous! Fantastic! Incredible! I really can’t praise the play and the cast highly enough; it was truly faultless and thoroughly enjoyable.
The six cast members delivered
their roles excellently, some taking on duel and triple roles, each performing amazingly
and adding to the plays' overall success.
The script is wordy, very wordy
and the two main cast members are to be commended for memorising such a large
amount of dialogue and delivering it seamlessly. The script, inspired by
classic ghost stories of the genre is clever, very witty and immensely
entertaining whilst at the same time, genuinely scary.
Greg Jones as Mr Charles Ellison,
has the weightiest script to deliver; he is on stage throughout and he portrays
the penniless, Victorian poet/tutor with aplomb and suitable composure although
I did see him corpsing at one very funny moment in the play. Nevertheless he hid it remarkably well considering
the play is full of banter and silliness and the audience were in stitches laughing
uproariously. He excels with facial expressions and is remarkable in the role,
his characterisation is impeccable. His
banter with Mrs Doubry combines comedic mimicry and on-point timing; they are a
great double act.
Sian Weedon (Mrs Doubry) is a gem
as the Victorian housekeeper of the foreboding decaying, spooky mansion and she
combines facial expressions with excellent characterisation along with
excellent intonation and diction.
Georgina Chadwick (young child,
William) sometimes portraying child-like innocence in the role and at others,
macabre brilliance, is excellent and fully believable as an eight year old boy.
The play is narrated by various
cast members throughout; the main
narrator, Tim Lynskey relies heavily on facial expressions which are portrayed
excellently and his stage presence is to be admired. There are a large amount of
surprise elements in the play which will not be described here so as not to
spoil the enjoyment for those going to see it.
Sophie Jones (Miss Widget) and Alex
McGonagle (Waiter/Doctor) are also to be lauded for the portrayal of their
roles as is Tim Lynskey in his extra roles as Author/Master/Mr Doubry and Taxi Driver.
The set is dark throughout with
heavy use of dry ice and clever use of lighting (Laurence Noble) setting the
mood and creating a spooky, mystical, atmospheric environment with scant use of
props - only wooden chairs, tables and benches which were moved in and off the
set by cast members. Although the stage is quite bare throughout, it is not
difficult to imagine the large, dark crumbling mansion as portrayed in horror
films in which the play is set.
The theatre was full and the audience consisted of mainly student-aged theatregoers, and I suspect friends and family of the cast. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the play, and the cast received two standing ovations at the close.
The play is fast-paced, with clever use of language and humour with an animated cast, eerie music and atmospheric scary scenes. It contains lots of laugh out-loud belly laughs throughout, spooky horror and superb silliness. It is a delight from start to finish. Prepare to be scared!
The play was written by Robert Farquhar (Peccadillo Theatre Co) and directed by Lucy Thatcher. The play benefits from tight direction and perfect production. The wardrobe department is to be commended on authentic costumes relating to the Victorian era which add to the realism of the piece.
Catch it if you can, you will not be disappointed and will come away aching due to the laughter it produces.
The play runs from Wednesday 28th January to Saturday 31st January at 7:30pm & 2:30pm.
See https://www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk/whats-on/the-ghost-of-graves-end/
for more details and ticket information.
Reviewer – Anne Pritchard
On – 28th January 2026
