Darker Shores, Hampstead Theatre | reviews, news & interviews
Darker Shores, Hampstead Theatre
Darker Shores, Hampstead Theatre
Cod-Victorian ghost story with creepy effects
Tuesday, 08 December 2009
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/a3193da9f744508278b55342b9cabd86.jpg?itok=UHGbR26B)
Haunted darkness: the cast of Michael Punter’s ghostly Darker Shores photo: Robert Day
What’s the appeal of the traditional ghost story? Is it the knowledge that while the victims of the tale quake in their boots, you are perfectly safe and grinning like the Cheshire Cat? Or is it because the supernatural gives us a chance to journey into the weird and fearsome corners of our psyche, all the time kidding ourselves that we are just normal human beings? In Michael Punter’s new ghost story, Darker Shores, which opened last night at the Hampstead Theatre, all the rooms of the haunted house story get an airing.
What’s the appeal of the traditional ghost story? Is it the knowledge that while the victims of the tale quake in their boots, you are perfectly safe and grinning like the Cheshire Cat? Or is it because the supernatural gives us a chance to journey into the weird and fearsome corners of our psyche, all the time kidding ourselves that we are just normal human beings? In Michael Punter’s new ghost story, Darker Shores, which opened last night at the Hampstead Theatre, all the rooms of the haunted house story get an airing.
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