Darker Shores a new play by Michael Punter is a festive treat for theatergoers this December.
The modern stage at Hampstead has been transformed into a Victorian Gothic parlour. Here is  where spirits abound. Man of science Professor Gabriel Stokes ( Tom Goodman-Hill) enlists American spiritualist Tom Beauregard ( Julian Rhind-Tutt) to investigate  the strange phenomena he encountered in a seaside house in Sussex.

This is a thoroughly entertaining play that keeps up the suspense and momentum till the very end. The story begins with Beauregard and Stokes discussing the happenings in Sussex, echoes of the Woman in Black. However the similarities end there as a plot driven by the passions of one man and the determination of another take us on a journey into the unkown world of the other side.

At times darkly comic, at others sensitve, with wonderful effects by magicians and illusionists to boot, whats not to like about this production?

Standout performances from Vinette Robinson as Florence the housemaid and Pamela Miles as Mrs Hinchcliffe the housekeeper with a desperate secret. Though Rhind-Tutt's southern accent is at times uneven, both he and Goodman-Hill make a great pair to accompany on their mission to discover the supernatural.
Not to be missed!
Darker Shores
Hampstead theatre
3 December - 16 January