Twenty years after a successful staging of I Do Not Like Thee Dr Fell, Bernard Farrell returns to the Druid treading fairly familiar ground. His latest offering revolves around four free spirits who volunteer to spend the night in a house that is rumoured to be haunted in order to raise money for a charity fundraiser that Gerry Ryan is running on his programme.
But this is a slumber party with a difference. In the course of an eventful evening we learn as much about the truth-pursuing foursome as the supposed occupant of the house. And there are many skeletons in the cupboard (quite literally). Farrell infuses a confessional narrative with gothic creepiness as he gradually draws the audience into the warped recesses of their minds.
Though Larry (Donncha Crowley) is an overly confident and domineering husband, he harbours many insecurities and it is his wife Helen (Joan Sheehy) who ultimately wears the trousers. Colm the schoolteacher (Frank Mackey) and young Aisling (Sarah-Jane Drummey) have also had their brushes with death and have emerged emotionally scarred.
Amid all the squabbling and recrimination, however, you can't help feeling that there is less to this play than meets the eye. Though billed as a horror story, it is always more cosy than shocking and comes across as an uneven amalgam of Big Brother and The Blair Witch Project. The Druid's atmospheric production, directed by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh, plays up the farcical elements and almost lets it slip into fullblown panto. There are too many cheap thrills for the audience and running gags that run too long, and not enough genuine humour.
The play is salvaged somewhat by some carefully judged performances from Donncha Crowley, Joan Sheehy, Frank Mackey and Brendan Gregory while Sarah-Jane Drummey is particularly strong as the distraught and neurotic waif. Liz Cooke's gothic set is eerie and decadent in the tradition of Daphne du Maurier.
Runs until June 9th. For bookings tel. 091-5697777