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Hand, Richard 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2076-1435
(2024)
Grand Guignol:A Night of Horror and Hilarity.
[Performance]
Abstract
Sewell Barn Theatre, Norwich. Imagine a deconsecrated chapel a hundred years ago, down a dodgy ally in the seedy Pigalle district of Paris, where you can hear both blood-curdling screams and belly-laughs. But there’s no need for further mental creativity, nor a time machine, for you to enjoy a rollercoaster evening of macabre melodrama interspersed with hilarious comedy: for eight performances only, the legendary Théâtre du Grand Guignol can be experienced in Norwich, in all its gory glory. Directed by Richard Hand, a world-renowned expert on popular horror culture, Sewell Barn Theatre’s own Grand Guignol presents five short plays that are absolute classics from the original Parisian repertoire, newly adapted for this production. There is also one disturbing exploration of the genre from the contemporary world. As in Paris, each short play in the Sewell Barn’s version will hook the audience immediately into its grimly brutal, or downright saucy, story, manipulating every shriek of terror and laughter. Despite its gruesome reputation, the Grand Guignol tradition offers a masterclass in subtle suspense and insidious tension. Richard commented: “Perhaps surprisingly, the world’s first and greatest ‘Theatre of Horror’ was not a place for the supernatural: Grand Guignol’s monsters were all too real, based on true, or at least possible, stories. Serial killers, mad doctors, deranged lunatics, and coldblooded avengers succeeded in giving its audiences nightmares. As much as the original theatre loved its in-your-face gore – with realistic stage blood, acid attacks, decapitations and eye gouging – it offered a fascinating combination of realism, melodrama and farce”. A multi-skilled ensemble of 14 actors will be responsible for scaring you, shocking you and amusing you. They include several faces familiar to Sewell Barn audiences (Jen Anderson, Alexandra Evans, Shem Jacobs, James Laybourn and Helen Wells) as well as many highly-talented first-timers (Grant Barker, Jas Blackburn, Esther Cornforth, Indigo Douglas, Amie M Marie, John McDermott, Jack McLeod, Nola Merckel and Nik Thomas). Yet they all risk being upstaged by one of the Sewell Barn’s most impressive props to date – a ten-foot high guillotine, apparently with fully-working parts… Grand Guignol is at the Sewell Barn Theatre, Constitution Hill, Norwich NR3 4BB between Thursday 10 and Saturday 19 October. The performance contains graphic violence, horror effects and sexual content. DO NOT ATTEND IF YOU MIGHT FIND SUCH MATERIAL UPSETTING. Tickets available online at £13 and £12 from TicketSource through www.sewellbarn.org, also by phone via 0333 6663366. Booking fees are included in the ticket prices.
| Item Type: | Performance |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | horror theatre,french theatre,translation,adaptation,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Comics Studies Research Group Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Nov 2024 12:30 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2024 01:02 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97691 |
| DOI: |
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