麻豆社

Neil Brand, writer and composer, has bridged the two time periods of Sheridan Le Fanu's 19th Century ghost stories and our world today in his supernatural adaptation. It begins in a basement nightclub in Dublin called Sheridan's. For four of the people who come to this club, a Royal Naval sailor, an au pair, an artist and a judge, this visit will change their lives. They will find themselves trapped in a story sprung from the tortured mind of Le Fanu himself.

The MC.....Paul Chahidi
Lady Justice Horobin/Madam Crowl.....Haydn Gwynne
Lewis/Gordon Starkey.....Jonathan Forbes
Nuala/Laura.....Ruth Everett
James Barton/McCrone.....Matthew Durkan
Pamela/Jeanette/Rosie.....Alexandra Hannant
Grace/Meg Wyvern.....Rebecca Crankshaw
Yelland.....Chris Jack
Gerald Dow /Court Clerk.....Michael Begley
Vanderhausen/Workman/Captain Jenner.....Neil McCaul

Sheridan Le Fanu's ghost stories adapted by Neil Brand
Music composed and played by Neil Brand, with Nuala's Ballad sung by Ruth Everett

Directed by Tracey Neale

Bridging the two time periods of Sheridan Le Fanu's 19th century ghost stories, and our world today in all its everyday bustle, is a basement nightclub in the heart of Dublin called Sheridan's. In its dark brick interior a small stage is surrounded by tables, the MC takes to the stage and a beautiful young woman, Nuala O'Brien - the Siren of the Second Sight - sings her ballad, her eyes scanning the upturned faces in the audience below her, until they fix on a face.

For four of the people who come to Sheridan's, a Royal Naval sailor, an au pair, an artist and a judge, this visit will change their lives. They will find themselves trapped in a story sprung from the tortured mind of Le Fanu himself.

The Sailor (based on The Watcher)
A young naval officer is convinced he is being followed and is forced to revisit his punishment of a young rating who is seeking revenge.

The Au Pair (based on Madame Crowle's Ghost)
Laura gets a job as an Au Pair in an old house in the country, where the elderly Grandmother of her charge remains unseen, secluded in her room. Laura soon realises that all is not right in the room upstairs.

The Artist (based on Schalken the Painter)
A young painter, Gordon Starkey, is in love with the niece of his friend Gerald, but is disturbed to find she has been lured into a clinic by underhand means. He attempts to save her from evil clutches.

The Judge (based on Lord Justice Harbottle)
A female judge, renowned for handing down rough sentences on the flimsiest of evidence, sees her own fate planned out for her by the ghost of one of her victims.

Neil Brand has followed the model of the horror double-bills on 麻豆社2 in the 1980s, such as portmanteau stories like Amicus's Tales from the Crypt, in which separate stories were bookended by a single situation. Neil has invented Sheridan's nightclub, with its jovial yet sinister MC and Nuala, the Siren of the Second Sight. The combination of narration, drama, live-performed song and underscore will take the listener deep into a particularly Celtic mysticism, which breaks though to our very recognisable reality in disturbing and horrifically plausible ways. The Le Fanu Ballads - a potent mix of Irish balladry and stories of supernatural justice.

The Writer
Neil Brand is a composer, writer, radio playwright, presenter and broadcaster specialising in silent film and film music. Neil has been accompanying silent films for nearly 30 years, writes music for theatre, has written two award-winning musicals and ten radio plays including the Sony-nominated Stan (which he subsequently adapted to great acclaim for 麻豆社4 TV), the Tinniswood prize-nominated Getting the Joke and the live-recorded crowd-pleaser The Big Broadcast. Neil has also presented the Radio 2 arts programme and broadcast regularly on Radio 4's The Film Programme.

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