Ex Libris Macabre

Synopsis

At a time of year when we traditionally huddle indoors to hear cautionary tales to keep the winter spirits at bay, Little Jade Productions invite us to explore the darker side of Christmas in candlelit rooms at Theatre Delicatessen's Marylebone High Street space, in the vast old offices of the BBC London building. Audiences wander through the atmospheric setting decorated by book sculptures and ripped furniture, listen to an evocative series of dark winter tales and sultry songs. Discover curses, ghosts, fateful cards and bloodied roses, performed to live music by a cast of four actors. Stories include Angela Carter's The Tiger's Bride, works of Poe, such as The Raven, traditional Japanese folk myths, and Alfred Noyes' The Highwayman, all with original interpretation by the company.

Our Review:

8 December 2012

The idea of Ex Libris Macabre is a very good one: spine-tingling storytelling for those who like their Christmastide tales to have an icy vein. The show is presented in a couple of rooms on Marylebone High Street: the first a welcoming, Christmas-cum-Alice in Wonderland lounge, the second a much emptier, colder space to provide a literal chill to accompany the metaphorical ones.

Twelve tales are told during the evening, with the role of lead storyteller rotating amongst a cast of five. The stories told range from songs to folklore and from fairytales to poetry. Some stories – and some storytellers – are inevitably more successful than others.

The first highlight for this reviewer was Sonia Allan’s introductory number "You Will Be My Ain True Love", a song written by Sting for the film Cold Mountain. Performed solo and unaccompanied, it was a perfect tone-setter for the evening, with an air of simplicity and mystery.

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