The Canterville Ghost, a children’s adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story, is a show enjoyed by both children and adults at the Unicorn Theatre on November 20th, 2019. Telling the story of an exceedingly modern American family and the ghost in their new British mansion, along with their bad-tempered housekeeper and a few magic tricks along the way, the show is a funny mix of panto and gothic comedy (as well as some commentary to keep the adults entertained!), that hits a lot of the right spots.

One of my favourite parts of this show was the fabulous ghost of Sir Simon Canterville himself, played with charisma and exaggeration by Paul McEwan, who interacted with the audience in a playful manner, causing laughter from both kids and adults alike. However, he also delivered an emotional performance at the touching conclusion to the show, including a stand-out scene with the young Virginia Otis (Safiyya Ingar) in which both gained real sympathy from all ages in the audience.

I also really enjoyed the energetic performance of the all-American twins Stars (Mae Mundo) and Stripes (Rose-Marie Christian), who probably appealed most to the children in the audience with their slapstick routines and comic timing.

The technical skills such as magic tricks and lighting design were fantastic and professionally executed- including cutting a cast member in half! Despite this, I couldn’t help but feel that these (nonetheless entertaining) sections were slightly jarring and out-of-place, and an outlier to the otherwise cohesive narrative tone.

As well as this, my father and I both shared the opinion that this show- with its two-hour running time- was excessively long and that the same dramatic appeal and effectiveness could have been conveyed in less time. Considering as this performance is aged at children seven and up, it would help to keep the younger audience engaged and perhaps not drag as it tended to do by the interval.

All in all, this play is an excellent festive watch full of hilarious moments, a great cast and spectacular magic tricks. If you have children of any age who enjoy ghost stories, or just something other than the traditional panto, I would definitely recommend!

By Esther O'Neill, Newstead Wood School