Theatre / Reviews
Review: Tales of the Grimoire, Ashton Court Mansion – ‘Gripping proponents of the ancient craft of storytelling’
Long before there were horror movies and jumpscares, before ‘found footage’, before Alfred Hitchcock, before Grand Guignol and Bram Stoker and the Grimm brothers, people were telling one another scary stories.
Centuries, even millennia before any of those, humans would gather around fires and tell tales of monsters, and evil, and things that lurk in the dark, dark woods.
It is a habit that unites us with all of humanity, past and present, and that lives on in the spooky stories told around the campfire and urban myths whispered in darkened bedrooms during sleepovers.
is needed now More than ever
So there is nothing new about what Red Rope Theatre are doing. It’s a pastime as old as the ancient forests in which the Tales of the Grimoire are set.
A narrator (Rebecca Robson) sitting on a stage, painting pictures in the audience’s mind with the power of words alone. In a way, it is theatre stripped down to its absolute minimum: one actor and their ability to influence and mould your mind’s eye. And it transports a contemporary audience to a very different, and quite scary place.
Rehearsal shot – photo: Craig Fuller
With two tales – one about a girl called Mary and an evil entity called Black Agnes, another about an old man who slips into a hallucinogenic world of monsters and memories – Robson recounts Gothic folk tales (written by her in collaboration with Red Rope co-founder Matt Grinter) which take place in a dark, Grimm-like world of threatening trees and whispering voices and elongated fingers that grab you out of nowhere. Her delivery is pitch perfect, conjuring up visions with only the occasional tiny hand gesture to help depict the action of the story.
There is a temptation to close your eyes and let the pictures waft across your mental canvas, Jackanory style. This is, however, not advisable – especially for those whose childhood involved being lulled to sleep by bedtime stories. Not only would it be embarrassing to drift off, but you definitely don’t want these dark tales shaping any dreams you might have. Stay awake, for heaven’s sake.
Photo: Lois Grinter
Tales of the Grimoire takes place in the old Music Room at Ashton Court Mansion: a perfect setting, a space imbued with a sense of lost splendour and haunted decay. It is a shame that more use isn’t made of the council-owned Mansion.
With a bit of love and care, it could be a fabulous venue for so many of Bristol’s ever inventive theatre makers, of whom Red Rope are an excellent example.
They propound the ancient craft of storytelling in a way which is still just as gripping for today’s audiences as it was for our ancestors centuries ago.
Artwork for Tales of the Grimoire, Red Rope Theatre – poster: Rhys Williams
Tales of the Grimoire is at Ashton Court Mansion until May 26, and then on June 1-3, at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.co.uk.
Main photo: Lois Grinter
Read more: Review: Frankenstein, Arnos Vale Cemetery
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