.png)
REVIEW | Ivories, Old Red Lion Theatre - London
- Harry Brogan
- Jul 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 5
AD | Tickets gifted in exchange of an honest review
“Horror Theatre” is something I’ve always had a strange passion towards. I say strange as you wouldn’t catch me dead watching a horror film by myself (watching Hereditary at 11pm has I think scarred me for life), but theatrical horror on the other hand has always intrigued me. So I was definitely intrigued to see ‘Ivories’, a new piece of horror writing by Riley Elton McCarthy, directed by Georgie Rankom.
‘Ivories’ tells the story of a couple; Sloane, a troubled writer, played by McCarthy, and Gwyn, played by Matthías Hardarson, who move into Sloane's grandmother's house, to look after their grandmother who is on the brink of death. They are soon joined by Beckham, played by Daniel Neil Ash, their mutual friend who is helping them as they pack up and prepare to sell the house. We watch as Sloane struggles with grieving their father who recently passed, Gwyn who is suffering from severe anxiety and Beckham, who is in a secret love affair with Gwyn. These truths all are slowly revealed throughout the play, as well as the house seemingly being alive, possessed by an unnamed spirit who we later find out is Sloane’s sister who passed away here many years ago, culminating in this spirit making Beckham choose between their best friend, or the man they are in love with. Unfortunately, the plot struggles to find itself, which makes it hard to recount what is taking place.
Fringe theatre is becoming harder and harder to put on, make money and to get audiences in. I admire the work of the shows Writer, Director and the cast. That being said, I think this show has some way to go before it reaches its peak of what it could be.
The plot as a whole I found both tricky to follow, and also somewhat of a ‘Cliche Horror’. We see all the traditional elements of classic horror - the creepy house, the Ouija board, the séance & the secret dead sister possessing people, but it doesn’t really feel like it brings anything new to the theatrical table. Moreover, I feel like it is trying to accomplish things that Horror movies do on stage, which just doesn’t translate in the same way. In a film, the director can control exactly what you see, or don’t see, so can control tension with pin point precision, but theatre is a live medium. The audience can look wherever they please, so when they try to use those same techniques, it doesn’t land as I have the option to just not look at that part of the stage - immediately cutting any scare factor. Another point is the show didn't use the live space as much as it could have.
My favourite moment from the whole show was a point where Gwyn is on their own in the house, and doors begin to seemingly slam on their own, books fly off shelves and it really feels like something unhuman is possessing the space… but then that ends, and we go back to the “creepy person behind a curtain horror’, which just doesn’t land in the same way.
Verity Johnson’s set is absolutely gorgeous. Quite frankly I was shocked to see such an intricate set in a pub venue; beautiful torn walls decorated with various creepy ornaments and paintings, it sets up the horror vibes immediately from entering the venue. I also enjoyed Skylar Turnbull Hurd's lighting design, although it also falls into that category of being very ‘obvious horror lighting’ - but I am a sucker for live candles on stage what can I say.
The performances from the cast as a whole felt a little underwhelming. Riley & Matthías’ chemistry doesn’t feel quite there, and Daniel’s performance, though to me stronger than the other two, still felt a little uneven, and I wanted all three to commit harder to these characters and the stakes of the show - it’s literally life and death! I think this tepidness bleeds into Rankom’s directing as well, with some staging that felt obvious and uninspired, and I wish what we did see was just taken way further - more ‘aliveness’ would do this show a great deal of good.
This show has a lot of untapped potential in its themes of horror & sexuality, and some of the writing is truly beautiful. Beckham’s monologue as we go into act 3 is perhaps the strongest writing of the entire show, and I would like to see more of that poetry woven into the show, as well as further exploration of queerness combined with horror. The themes and writing are there, but as it stands, I think ‘Ivories’ falls too hard on classic & cliché ‘spooky’ tropes, and I want the company to take more risks, to find a story and themes that feel far less common and overused in the genre of Horror.
★★
Ivories plays at the Old Red Lion Theatre until 26th of July.
Comments