Review: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, Old Red Lion Playhouse

Full disclosure: I’m not a big fan of both silent movies and the films of the esteemed director Alfred Hitchcock, yet last night I found myself sitting in a tiny theatre above a pub in Islington watching a play based on a 1927 silent movie directed by the man himself!

The Lodger, or to give its full title, The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog, is a melodrama about a Jack The Ripper-like serial killer known as The Avenger stalking the streets of foggy London town murdering young blonde haired women. The eponymous lodger who fits the description of the killer, arrives at the home of the Buntings to rent a room and meets their daughter Daisy who is a young blonde – what could go wrong?

The Lodger is a loving homage to the original movie and the book it’s based on by Marie Belloc Lownes, presented by repertory theatre company Flywheel. The twist here is that whilst a lot of the play is a reconstruction of the silent movie (with the cast in monochromatic costumes, kohl eye make-up, performing silently), behind a big black curtain that has a small screen cut into it, shadow puppets fill in some of the action, while the actors deliver the dialogue that allows the audience to understand what’s going on without using silent movie title cards. It’s a hybrid but a clever one that really works well and is inventive and creative in its execution. 

The excellent five strong ensemble perform the melodrama with big sweeping gestures, mouthing the dialogue silently. The play’s director Jack Robertson plays Mr Bunting, Keziah Hayes is his daughter Daisy, Rachel Bardwell is her wicked (spoiler alert) stepmother, Gabriel Lumsden plays the bumbling Detective Chandler and Charlie Woodward is the mysterious lodger, Sleuth. The puppeteers weaving their magic behind the curtain are Sadie Pepperrell and Benedict Hastings. Throughout, the action is accompanied by an archetypal silent movie piano score composed by Sarah Spencer.

On a simple set with just a table and a chair and an old fashioned streetlight, the cast and the unseen creatives are always engaging and energetic, while the combination of mime and shadow puppetry is a unique take on this old school melodrama. Billed as sixty minutes long, by my watch it was over in around forty five which meant it never outstayed its welcome. The only cons in a production full of pros, was the fog effect which was a little wimpy, while the ending seemed a little rushed and slightly unsatisfactory. 

Did The Lodger change my mind about being a fan of silent movies and Alfred Hitchcock? Probably not but it did make me a big fan of the Flywheel Repertory Company.

Director: Jack Robertson
Assistant Director: Nina Atesh
Musical Composer: Sarah Spencer
Costume & Set Design: Rebecca Ward
Lighting Design: Brett Kasza

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog plays at The Old Red Lion Theatre until Saturday 28 March.