Luiza MorrellWith Halloween fast approaching and as the night grew darker earlier, I embraced this spooky time of year and went to the Tap & Spile to watch Hedgepig’s latest production, Double Barrel – The Signalman and The Black Cat.
As the room started filling with audience members, enjoying their drinks and eager to see what they had in store, there seemed to be little space for the actors to work with, but this simply made the performances even more atmospheric.
First was The Signalman, Charles Dickens’ haunting story of a railway worker, depicted in such a way that it was difficult not to feel the pain that this lonely man had gone through. This was shortly followed by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat, which was chillingly portrayed as the main character went further and further into madness, haunted by his actions.
Despite the fact that we were in a pub, with faint chat in the background, glasses clinking and music playing, the audience were fully brought into the performances happening around them; clever use of props and confident acting made the room adapt into whatever the actors saw.
The York-based independent Hedgepig Theatre company are touring Double Barrel across York pubs later this week, I would urge you to go for this uniquely different and immersing experience.
For more information, see here.
