The Enfield Haunting at Richmond Theatre

I go to see almost every play that is put on at Richmond Theatre and with Catherine Tate and David Threlfall in the cast I was certainly going to see The Enfield Haunting when it passed through on its way to the West End.

Those names were expected to be a big draw and the prices matched so, again, I was forced out of my usual place, the front row of the Dress Circle, and I went up a level to the front row of the Upper Circle where a central seat (A16) cost a mere £20. At that price I could afford to take a risk on an unknown play by an unknown (to me) playwright.

I had seen other supernatural plays at Richmond Theatre, notably The Woman in Black, and with Richmond Theatre's reputation for putting on a good show I had reasonable hopes for the evening.

The view from my seat was fine (aided by using my coat as a cushion to make me sit a little further forward) and the set looked good.

What followed was a major disappointment.

The story had a few shocking moments and these were handled well with, for example, all the lights in the auditorium going off. but the bulk of the play felt slow and irrelevant. The children apart, the characters were not very believable and any supernatural story trying to be heard got lost in the messy interactions between the adults.

This was the first night of a preview run so perhaps things will get better but I found a lot of the dialogue stilted as if it had not be learned or rehearsed properly.

Apart from the few brief shocking moments it had nothing going for it and I was very glad that I had only paid £20 and that it was not very long.