The Play at 8: The Monkey's Paw

The Storyfleas will present their debut of The Play at 8: The Monkey's Paw at the Space from 15 to 19 October (more listing details and link to buy tickets are given below).

W.W. Jacob's classic novella 'The Monkey's Paw' is adapted and presented as a live 1930's radio play.

Employing live foley artistry, the show aims to transport the audience back to Imperial London and the arrival of a mysterious and cursed artefact.

Written by Jack Williams and Sara Butler, the show premiered as a 20 minute production in March 2019 at the Old Red Lion under the direction of Matthew Jameson for Plays Rough London's new writing night of 'Theatre Without Sight or Sound'.

After a promising reception, the company has created a longer adaptation in the form of a radio play for stage and the story of the recording studio and performers who bring it to life.

Fusing elements of Foley artistry, voice acting, farce and horror, the show combines traditional radio broadcasting and storytelling with a wider character-driven narrative.

Commenting on the play's historical setting, director Matthew Jameson said ...

"The era we're choosing to set the play is such a parallel to our own world of turbulence and a divided society, with misogyny and imperialism lingering in our source text.

To address this, we've brought a satirical vein to the production, incorporated genuine copy from 1930s adverts as a stark reminder of the times and ensured a solid 50/50 gender split in the creative dynamic by casting a female as our male lead and having an equally balanced creative team.

We may be interested in the past, but we're not dinosaurs."

There will be a live Q&A following the evening performance on Thursday 17 October and a foley artistry workshop before the matinee at 2pm on Saturday 19th.

Show listing information