The Legend Of The Ghost Shark (24:7 Theatre Festival - Manchester)

Venue: New Century House
Where: Manchester

The description of Anthony Morgan’s script as ‘a surreal comedy’ should be warning enough. And so it proves. It was one of those occasions where I knew immediately that I wanted to make a hasty exit rather than spend the next hour or so wishing to be virtually anywhere else.

Jason (Christopher Brett) is a writer who ought to be penning articles on seafood restaurants for a foodie mag but instead appears to have entered a pact with a devilishly subterranean shaman to write a new legend, or fairy story, or fantasy tale, or some such.

As Jason taps away at his laptop, a sort of modern day witch-like figure by the name of Wendy sits on a stool beside an illuminated purple globe and vocalises the tale he is telling.

Constant interruptions come from his magazine editor, his wife, a couple of comic cops and Lucien, the shaman, who isn’t happy about the progress of the legend.

Reading the programme note from the author, I gather that as well as entertaining, he is hoping to give an insight into the process of creative writing. Well, I suppose there is something there on those lines.

He also says he really, really, wants it to be funny. Well, I’m afraid it didn’t connect with my sense of humour and not with many others of the audience I was with either. Despite some fairly strenuous attempted rescue efforts by the cast of seven, very little works.

Perhaps it sounded amusing on paper, though I have to say it is hard to believe it ever did.

- Alan Hulme