REVIEW: Even More…Ghost Stories by Candlelight at Shakespeare North Playhouse by Rob Gandy

Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Rob Gandy

Hallowe’en and Christmas are the traditional times for ghost stories, and so it was that my good Fortean friend David Adams and I made our way to the Shakespeare North Playhouse, in Prescot, Merseyside on the evening of 30th October 2025.

 

It is a modern theatre – only opened in 2022 – which is inspired by the history of the only known Elizabethan playhouse outside of London, having once stood in Prescot in the 1590s. That theatre was patronised by the Earls of Derby, who lived nearby at Knowsley Hall, and was the only purpose-built indoor theatre outside of London during that era. It hosted performances by Lord Strange’s Men, a company that included some of the actors who would later form the core of Shakespeare’s Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The design of the current theatre is based on the 1629 Cockpit-in-Court theatre, designed by Inigo Jones, who was a key figure in Elizabethan drama and patron to Shakespeare’s company.

David and I had booked to see **Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight**, which was the third and final part of the Ghost Stories by Candlelight trilogy; written and performed by [High Tide](https://hightide.org.uk/), and co-produced with [Pentabus](https://pentabus.co.uk/). High Tide is a writer-centred theatre company based in the East of England. So, coming from M.R. James’ territory, it was perhaps not a total surprise that they had developed a show focusing on ghosts and the supernatural.

There were four different acts, with each act largely involving one of the two actors. Now, there are problems with writing a review about the evening: I have to be careful not to give away any spoilers! Therefore, I trust that these points will be borne in mind, and I invite readers to pretend that it is a cold, damp evening in the North of England, the night before Hallowe’en! The audience has escaped the darkness outside and is sat especially close to the stage, taking up half of the Cockpit Theatre; which makes everything very, very intimate. Please read on.

**The White Horse** (written by Florence Espeut-Nickless)  
Keaton Guimarães as a bit of a lad, or should that be a lot of a psycho? There was lots of banter with the audience as he told his story from what might have been interpreted as a cell, or was it a special unit of some kind? Either which way he kept asking to be let out. He described working at a fairground near Swindon, and how he had later been on a school trip which had resulted in him being drawn to the chalk White Horse at the top of a hill. He then somehow found himself in the middle of the chalk figure, which now had black lines on it, possibly caused by car tyres! How could this be? What was it that scared the life out of him? And what was the personal connection to him? Was it his mental state causing him to imagine things or was it genuine phenomena?…

**Cold Oak Lane** (written by Simon Longman)  
Sarita Gabony as a daughter who had left her dying father in Lowestoft to go searching for the rare Devil’s Fingers fungi in Herefordshire, despite her mother imploring her to return as soon as possible. She stays in a lonely cottage which the old man in the local pub tells her has a terrible history, which includes violence, mutilation and suicide! He is surprised that she has walked to the pub down the path through the woods, and she confirms that she heard some strange clicking-type noises. He implores her not to take the same route back to the cottage, but she is too arrogant to listen to what she considers superstition. As she walks along, she hears that her father has died, and then, as might be expected, things get very scary! But it is far too late for her…


 

**The Takeover** (written by Anne Odeke)  
Keaton returns as an urban explorer looking to develop his own YouTube channel, his fame and his fortune. He rows a boat out to one of the Maunsell Forts; towers built in the Thames estuary during the Second World War to help defend London from German bombers. It’s taken over two hours and he finds the inside to be derelict, with creaking and groaning sounds as the sea swells around the fort’s base. He gets a lot of earache over the phone from his girlfriend, whose priority seems to be to get him to marry her, and clearly thinks that what he is doing that night is totally daft. He films himself for his viewers, but his equipment starts to malfunction and he has seizures, without realising that he is having them. It’s only when he replays his recordings that he sees himself doing this! He finds an old photograph, presumably from the soldiers based in the fort during WWII. But there are noises, with cries of soldiers and explosions, and he finds himself trapped in the room. How could this be? And how is it that he appears to have taken on the persona of a Welsh fighter!?…

**The Consequence of Diving Lots** (written by Rosa Torr)  
Sarita as a shop girl doing her first night shift in a huge self-storage building. She is quite full of herself, and because there has been only one customer, who dropped off a bag, she amuses herself by ‘diving’ in various storage units. This is diving more in the sense of ‘dump diving’; i.e. to see if she can find anything interesting. She was told not to open the bag, but of course, this is something that she inevitably does. It is after this that there are scratching sounds, which she goes on to determine is not mice. But why are there blue flashing police and ambulance lights beyond the entrance? What is the malevolent history of the bag? And what is her fate that she realises is now imminent!?…

Most of the audience noted the inclusion of a link between all four acts. Following on from the focus of the first act, there was a white horse appear, or be referred to, in each of the following three. Unfortunately, for those of us that enjoy a seasonal drink, none of these involved a well-known make of whisky – but then, of course, there were already plenty of spirits!

The curtain was then drawn (metaphorically) to great applause from the audience that had swung between laughs and scares throughout. Keaton and Sarita had been excellent playing the four different characters, who were all working-class types; which arguably sat well with the audience, given that Prescot is a very working-class area. Each act was well written, gradually building tension and adding twists.


Production photos Shakesphere North, Fab Productions. 
 

Therefore, I recommend Even More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight to ASSAP members. I don’t know what High Tide might have in mind for Hallowe’en 2026; or even if they will continue with performing such tales of mystery and imagination. I hope that they do and that their tour will return to the Shakespeare North Playhouse. Therefore, keep checking High Tide’s website and that of the Playhouse.

- Shakespeare North Playhouse: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/  
- High Tide: https://hightide.org.uk/  
- Pentabus: https://pentabus.co.uk/

Photos: Promotional material of the production https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/ghost-stories-by-candlelight/
Photo: https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/