THEATRE REVIEW: New Northern Light original a real horror show
“Last Night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…”
With those words Daphne du Maurier began her chilling romantic-psychological 1938 gothic novel Rebecca. The story followed the same lines that were laid down in spook-ridden Victorian times, with flickering candles, wavering shadows, creaking floorboards and a fleeting look of a woman caught in a flash of lightning just outside the window. Mostly, these tales are of a young woman alone – yet, not alone – in some cavernous house. The abandoned woman-child is beset by evil creatures from hell (Hellraiser), a monster in human form hidden behind a mask (Halloween). Or perhaps the horror lies elsewhere. Not in a malevolent demon but in the clouded mind of the lone girl as she slowly drifts into madness (The Innocents). The main character is usually an unreliable narrator whose grip on reality is tenuous.
Trevor Schmidt’s latest world premiere production from Northern Light Theatre is called We Had a Girl Before You, a one-person play set in the 1880’s. Unwanted foundling Edwina “Weenie” Trout, sits on a wrought iron divan in the midst of a candle lit room. As she writes in her diary, she tells us in a proper but tentative Victorian accent of a wasted life. She writes, “I am drawn to the unknown. I have yearned for love. I am ready for an adventure.”
Oh innocent maiden – beware of what you wish for.
She accepts a position as a “lady’s companion at Wisham Manor, known to the locals as “Desolation.” The journey there is an eerie odyssey of its own. She samples her first alcoholic drink in the only place where she can find lodgings – a low class public house filled with ruffians. She sets off to the island in a skiff propelled by a surly one-eyed boatman. The only cargo is what looks to be a coffin. The boatman refuses to set foot on shore.
Once on the inhospitable island, Weenie encounters the brother and sister who own it. All the other servants had fled to the mainland. The two live in a single room; the brother speaks through the keyhole. One of the first comments she hears proves to be a bit disquieting “We had a girl before you…” it intones.
What happened to her?
Schmidt must have marinated himself in the writings of Collins, Dickens, the Bronte Sisters and Jane Austin while demonstrating a good deal of his own gothic abilities with phrases like, “The house loomed over me, towering over the cliff, leaning as though it means to hurl itself to the crashing sea below.”
The show is also pretty funny. There are quite a few nervous chuckles – even a guffaw or two. Most of the humour arises in the, “Oh Trevor, you’ve got to be kidding,” moments. One howling wolf in the blasted countryside is not enough here. There is a large pack of ravening creatures from hell. Thunder crashes will probably rock the crockery in Hinton. There’s a creature in a green dress that seems to live in a pool in the basement of the manor and the mind-twisting ending makes The Fall of the House of Usher look like Tantrum in Barbie Manor.
Schmidt was wise to choose Kristin Johnston as his lead. Through earlier Northern Light productions, and in particular Baroness Bianka’s Bloodsongs, the actor has demonstrated an ability to inhabit memorable characters and hold a certain style of approach for the entire production. Johnston sits in her chair throughout the spare 80 minutes, her haunted eyes outlined in expressive black, an imposing sight.
Who needs a large cast? With head movement, a subtle expressive face and a whole repertoire of Dickensian accents (and with the invaluable help of Roy Jackson’s pin point lighting) Johnston portrays a myriad of sharply drawn and raucous supporting performers.
We Had a Girl Before You has few jump scares – that is the prerogative of horror movies. By setting his play in the yawning reaches of the Westbury Theatre, Schmidt takes full advantage of the echoey acoustics and deep dark void. The precision of his direction and Johnston’s performance allows for something more sinister than just cinematic trickery. When the scares come – and they do come – they linger and loom in the vastness, propelled by the increasing unhinged reality of poor lost Weenie Trout.
Special note should also be made of Dave Clarke’s nightmarish soundscape. It features the Theremin, an instrument first discovered by Alfred Hitchcock, used by the Beach Boys in Good Vibrations, and best known as producing the sound track for hundreds of cheesy sci-fi films in the ’50s. It is played without actually being touched, and sounds like an alien soul in torment.
Northern Light seems to have done a stand-out job in Covid proofing its production. Patrons are asked to fill out a self-screening questionnaire prior to attending. Masks are mandatory and the theatre has been redesigned for proper spacing.
We Had a Girl Before You plays until Nov. 21.
Photos by Ian Jackson
