Casting the Runes – Pleasance Theatre, London

Writers: Noel Byrne and Antonia Christophers, based on the story by MR James

Director: Adam Lenson

M R James’s ghostly short stories, which often relied upon a sense of creeping dread rather than out-and-out shocks, are prime candidates for theatrical adaptation. And so it is with Box Tale Soup’s Casting the Runes, which transfers one of the author’s tales to the stage.

The story revolves around Edward Dunning, a lecturer on the supernatural – or rather, what he believes to be the product of conmen and common conjuring to persuade a credulous audience. But after negatively assessing a book on alchemy by a mysterious Mr Karswell, he finds himself being pursued by malevolent forces that may have already claimed the life of a critic who also panned the work.

Noel Byrne, who co-writes the adaptation alongside fellow performer Antonia Christophers, imbues Dunning with a serious but not unkindly air. Christophers interacts with Byrne both as the sister of the deceased critic and also as the operator of a variety of life-sized puppets, most frequently Dunning’s assistant or a very talkative librarian.

Were it not for puppetry being one of Box Tale Soup’s signature storytelling techniques, one might question why they would be necessary, as Christophers may be just as able to effect different characters herself. However, there is something about the uncanny valley of pale, black-eyed masks being brought to life through movement that certainly adds to the play’s atmosphere. It also helps the occasional appearances of Karswell himself, a towering leviathan of a man, to gain greater stature than an outfit change alone could accomplish.

Various scene changes are accomplished with rearrangements of a few select pieces of furniture, most notably what appears to be a door split vertically that ingeniously can transform to become desks, chairs and even a chalkboard. The regimented, almost ritualistic choreography that Byrne and Christophers undertake between each scene, backed by Dan Melrose’s original score, contributes to the mysterious mood.

But so too, the slow pace of those changes does sometimes threaten to grate rather than elevate. Coupled with a number of scenes where Dunning relates to his assistant events which we have only just witnessed first hand, or where the same assistant dumps a whole load of backstory information, there are times when it feels as if the production is struggling to make James’s story stretch to the play’s full hour.

But in the moments where the play is able to progress the tale and ratchet up the tension, Casting the Runes works well. As with the original source material, the emphasis is on unease, rather than cheap jump scares. As the nights draw in and Halloween approaches, Box Tale Soup’s ghostly vision is just the thing.

Reviewed on 20 October 2023.