Just in time for Halloween, but extending far beyond the usual life-span of the associated cheap plastic black-and-orange tat, The London Horror Festival comes to the Courtyard Theatre in north London.
For five weeks, the Shoreditch venue will play host to all things grisly and gruesome for this brand new festival of live theatrical horror and the macabre.
From their website:
"The dead shall rise, the guilty will batten on the innocent and the people in the front rows may leave splattered in gore."
At the slowly beating bloodied heart of the festival is Theatre of the Damned's Revenge of the Grand Guignol – the sequel to their 2010 production, Grand Guignol – made up of four short horror plays. Accompaniment is provided by noise artist Corpse Lights, and there's a "smell track" too: a state-of-the-art aroma system to make sure you're feeling properly queasy.
The London Horror Festival also features an extended appearance by the UK's only repertory horror theatre company, Nouveau Guignol, as well as a gory collection of new works by contemporary writers. We like the sound of Phantasmagoria's production of Camden's Most Horrid; a new adaptation of H P Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror; and spoof lecture Zombie Science 1Z on the science of the undead by Theoretical Zombiologist, Doctor Austin.
Like your performing art challenging and dark? This is the festival for you. Someone actually fainted at last year's Grand Guignol show. You’ve been warned.
The London Horror Festival is at the Courtyard Theatre, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6EU from 25 October to 27 November. (No performances on Mondays, just special events.) To find out more, visit www.londonhorrorfestival.com. Tickets range from £8-£16.
