A CHRISTMAS CAROL – AS TOLD BY JACOB MARLEY (DECEASED)

Brother Wolf’s current theatrical production of Charles Dickens’s classic tale, and arguably the greatest Christmas story of all time, A Christmas Carol gets a retelling from the perspective of Jacob Marley.  Being Ebenezer Scrooge’s deceased business partner, he is now condemned to wander the Earth as a chained and tortured ghost, regretful of his sinful past, where he then decides to issue a grim warning to his former friend on Christmas Eve, exactly seven years from his passing.

Telling the story as a sole thespian show, director and performer James Hyland plays Marley with stunning conviction, matching his makeup and costume, especially the drapery of those heavy chains around Marley, which signifies his suffering and imprisonment of the past and his reliance on Scrooge’s redemption, so that he doesn’t end up like him. 

James Hyland (Jacob Marley)

Marley is also a sympathetic character and, as an audience member, you do feel for him.  But it is the production’s minimal set, consisting of a chair, and the overall one-act performance that makes it visual and enthralling.  Something that many one-act plays have failed to achieve.  The actor does manage to play the main characters of the story, and like his previous production The Magic Circle it gracefully captivates the audience in wanting more, waiting till the very end.

The play runs for seventy-five minutes, but it does fly by and the production goes very well with the oppressive cold weather waiting for the spectators outside.   

Another great performance and a Christmas treat for anyone looking for an entertaining piece of theatre with a feel-good ending.

5 OUT OF 5

For tickets to see this cracking play, click here.

Trailer

Teaser

  

MAGIC CIRCLE - 4 AUGUST 2017

After seeing Kim Newman’s previous involvement in two portmanteau theatre productions (The Hallowe’en Sessions and The Ghost Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore) I was looking forward to seeing his debut feature-length play Magic Circle, produced by Brother Wolf.

So curious, that I loved the idea of an occult-subject story, set in the early seventies about two characters in a room, in Calme Manor, that not only explores the theme of mistrust but also entrapment.

Magic Circle is a tale about a Professor Harold Cutley (Michael Shon), an academic and occult expert, determined to undo a dangerous spell cast by a former pupil, with the help of a chalk-drawn pentacle which will not only protect him, but also invoke the devil at his presence.  Enter Inspector Nicholas Gammell (James Hyland), who continuously questions Cutley about an unsolved case and places him as a suspect.  But Cutley becomes circumspect to leave the circle and, like a scene from Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out, the occultist begins to cast suspicions about the pesky detective, who could be the summoned Satanail?

Horror works very well with suspense and Newman has done that just right, as well as the fine direction by Phil Lowe.  For eighty minutes, I was on the edge of my seat, guessing and expecting dread, with the performances by Hyland and Shon.  But what I did get for this resolution was shock horror! Watching the West End premiere, I got an ‘I-didn’t-expect-to-see-it’ ending, which left the audience silent, until they left the auditorium for a drink and later a chat. 

Kim Newman is well known for his series of novels based on Anno Dracula, and is highly renowned for his outstanding knowledge of cinema, horror, sci-fi and cult TV.  This play is one of his finest works, and this scintillating piece of fiction should be a chief rival to the ongoing stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black.

The play does have some wit and it’s eerie and at times reminded me of Hammer’s To the Devil a Daughter, which sees Henry Beddows (Denham Elliott) placing himself in a similar circle to protect himself from the dark forces.  I also felt that the detective looked a lot like Sean Connery’s character in The Offence, acting as a Gene Hunt throwback.  A treat for fans of nostalgia, especially the seventies, with its stunning set design and lighting by the director (Phil Lowe), as well as the music (Chris Warner). The costumes played a key part to the mise-en-scene of this play (Charlene Braniff and Katie Males). 

I cannot reveal much, as this play will thrill and scare theatregoers desperate for a scare. 

A must-see horror play!  

Please click here for details about the play.

A five out of five.

   

NEW BRITISH HORROR FILM - BLACKWOOD

Having recovered from a shattering emotional breakdown, college professor Ben Marshall (Ed Stoppard) relocates to the countryside with his wife (Sophia Myles) and young son (Isaac Andrews), hoping for a fresh start. With a new job and a new home, Blackwood, things seem to be going his way.

But Blackwood is far from a peaceful, rural escape, as Ben is haunted by visions that seem to connect to the house's previous owner, Mrs Warner, an artist whose disturbed paintings litter the house. As Ben begins to dig into the disappearance of a local woman and her missing son, he is led into investigating a troubled gamekeeper (Russell Tovey) and the local vicar (Paul Kaye). The arrival of Ben's old friend and fellow academic, Dominic (Greg Wise), serves only to awaken buried feelings and past rivalries.

Is Ben fated to solve the mystery of Blackwood and save his family before time runs out?

Blackwood comes to selected UK cinemas on 1 August 2014.

Starring: Sophie Myles, Ed Stoppard, Russell Tovey, Paul Kaye and Greg Wise

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlackwoodUK
Twitter: twitter.com/BlackwoodFilm
Hashtag: #BlackwoodFilm

 

 

Six of the Best with Jason Brawn #books

To help promote the latest Bestiarum Vocabulum volume, edited by Dean M. Drinkel, fellow contributor Nerine Dorman has kindly invited me as a guest on her weekly BlogSpot where I talk about my story and animals. 

To read this click here.

BOOKS TO PURCHASE FOR XMAS

It's been a long time as I've been busy committing myself to a lot of projects.  I will soon announce them, so please watch this space.

Anyway enough of me as I've been doing lots of reading and found four books that will scare you, entertain you and leave you fully-satisfied.

1)  My good friend and fellow author Anna Taborska has just released her debut collection of macabre stories that are beyond great.  To purchase a copy, please click here.

 

 

2)  Another friend of mine, Greg James has his second instalment of his fantasy epic The Sceptre of Storms (The Age of the Flame).  Greg who also writes horror under the pseudonym G.R. Yeates achieved the number one bestseller spot on Amazon, with the first book of the series The Sword of Sighs.  Well done to him and a third tale will be released in the coming days.  To check out this book go on Amazon.

3)  David Fingerman a brilliant short story writer, who deserves a greater praise for his tales of suspense and macabre.  He is a modern day Edgar Allan Poe with influences from legends such as Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King.

David has been very supportive with my writing and when he asked me to write a blurb for this second collection of short stories, I was completely gobsmacked.  I beg you, please check him out.  His second volume of stories, Two Degrees Closer to Hell, is now available to order on Amazon.   

4)  Finally an anthology that marks the 40th anniversary of the Dracula Society, His Red Eyes Again, edited by Tracy Lee and Julia Kruk.  It features vampire tales from established authors like Anna Taborska, Berni Stevens, Tina Rath, Barry McCann, Tony Lee and Chris Priestley.  A short story of mine, titled A Night to Remember is included in this publication.  To purchase a copy, click here. 

 

 

There you have it.  I hope you all have a splendid Christmas and a great New Year!

THE BESTIARUM VOCABULUM

My short story, The Birthing Lady, which fuses Japanese folklore with English folk horror is one of the stories featured in Dean M. Drinkel's anthology, The Bestiarum Vocabulum,the second installment of the Tres Librorum Prohibitorum trilogy.

One of the authors is Barbie Wilde who played the female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser 2.

Western Legends Publishing

GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Please read my gothic tale available on The ORIGINAL Van Gogh's Ear Anthology.