Casting the Runes from Box Tale Soup returns after a successful run in 2023, and it’s a beautifully crafted, suspenseful narrative. Adapted from M. R. James’ supernatural stories with a theatrical slant, we are spirited away into a creepy, lamp-lit film noir.
After asking us to consider whether the ‘supernatural’ exists, the story then proceeds to prove that “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of!” The narrative is presented as a straightforward chronology with background information woven into the story without slowing the action down, unlike many ‘literary adaptations’.
The cynical professor becomes increasingly unhinged, whilst the capable and practical woman comes to his aid. This clever change of gender from the original story gives agency to a female character and allows additional aspects of the relationship to build. The suspense ramps up, aided by an incredibly atmospheric soundscape from Dan Melrose.
Casting the Runes actors, Antonia Christophers and Noel Byrne, expertly assume all the characters, also bringing them to life using large, half-puppets to portray some of the key figures: the fussy but knowledgeable librarian, the disturbingly eerie Mr Karswell, etc. The scene changes are choreographed so beautifully that we look forward to seeing the next one, with inventive scenery that flaps open or turns, transforming into a desk or seat, delighting us with the ingenuity, whilst lights magically turn on and off with a hand wave, all adding to the feeling of ‘otherness’.
Everything is thematically considered, from the fragments of text that are woven into costumes, scenery, etc., to the stylised puppets with deep-set eyes, designed and built using recycled, repurposed material by Box Tale Soup themselves.
The atmosphere becomes ever more tense as the fear builds and culminates in one of the ‘scariest’ moments I’ve ever experienced in a theatre, and that’s despite the inadequate ‘blacks’ that don’t cover the back of the space, leaking light onto the set (ah, the joys of Fringe spaces). In spite of a slight hiatus when one of the puppets fell apart and gaffer tape saved the day, I have rarely been so engaged by a simple, timeless story like Casting the Runes, which is a testament to Box Tale Soup’s theatrical creativity. They have another show, Gulliver’s Travels, in the same venue, and it’s on my list.
