REVIEW: WE ARE MONSTERS and GLASS at Barons Court Theatre until 4 Nov 2023

 ‘a double bill of horrors suitable for the Halloween season’ ★★★

Just a Regular House is a newly established theatre company which has been enjoying a considerable success. This is the first time they have produced a show written in-house, a double bill of horrors suitable for the Halloween season. 

We are Monsters, written by Joseph Ryan-Hughes focuses on siblings Caitlyn (Laura Mugford) and Kyle (Ryan-Hughes) who enjoy dressing up as the drowned girl and boy in order to play pranks and scare campers on Lake Windermere. Their fun turns to their terror when they are tracked down by a ghost-whisperer (Moses Alexander).  There are twists aplenty and the occasional thrill. It could be pushed much further into terror, and the sound track could do more to add to the intensity. Although quite satisfying, this company is capable of more. 

Glass by Connor McCrory is a solo show written for himself. Working late in his Highrise office, at Halloween, Brody Jenkins receives a phone call from a man who is watching him from a train which has broken down opposite. The man claims to know something ominous about Brody’s past.  The play is a psychological thriller in which the stakes keep rising.

Although there is plenty of potential in this new piece of writing, it doesn’t quite land. At the start, Brody has a panic attack which means that the tension doesn’t build, but rather slows down for a little while before picking up again. It’s hard to have sympathy with the character when we don’t understand why he’s having a panic attack (at the beginning), later on in the piece it would be quite understandable.   It would also give viewers a chance to empathise with the character and feel his fear.  Credibility is also difficult in the piece. Audiences are willing to believe quite a lot, but some of the storyline, is just too much of a tall story.   

Heaps of potential here, and a company who could really pull it off, but maybe a little more script development could benefit to take this show to the next level.

Just a Regular House presents a double bill:

WE ARE MONSTERS By Joseph Ryan-Hughes, and GLASS by Connor McCrory at Barons Court Theatre

24 Oct - 4 November 2023, 7.30 pm

Box Office: https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/we-are-monsters-x-glass

Directed by Zach Wyatt

Actors:

Laura Mugford

Joseph Ryan-Hughes

Moses Alexander

Connor McCrory

Reviewed by Heather Jeffery