Review: Dare, Barons Court Theatre

Dare has all the elements of a classic ghost story; a supposedly haunted room with a legend of a gruesome murder, and two friends with a questionable history. It offers all the hallmarks of MR James – well, except in the friends; we know James didn’t do women as central characters! 

That haunted room is supposedly where a man was decapitated, the killer never found. Even more mysterious is that the room was locked from the inside with no other way in or out. All classic concepts in a very many great ghost stories.

As for the friends, Seren (an outstanding Olivia Peacock) and Jess (Anastasia Sidorova), they have known each other since childhood. But it’s a strange and clearly strained relationship – one moment best of mates, the next declaring how much they hate one another. A slow drip feed of their past more than suggests Seren was rather nasty and controlling, locking Jess in a cupboard as kids, and while never admitted to, there’s an allegation she slept with Jess’ ex-fiancé. The real question is why they are still friends!

So here we are, with Jess daring Seren to spend the night in this haunted room. The forfeit? Should Seren leave before the morning, she must step aside and let Jess take a shot at Jake, the man they both clearly have feelings for.

Certainly, all the elements are there for another great GrimFest ghost story. The problem is it just never quite clicks into place. The pacing is way too slow. An opening scene to set out the friendship and rules of the dare never seems to end, with excessive repetition, the conversation going around in circles as if stuck in some ghostly time-loop; an issue that arises throughout the production. It’s only in the closing scenes when lights start to flicker and Seren is all alone that the play picks up enough to spark more of a reaction.

But the biggest problem is Jake himself. Much like the show’s pacing, there is a need for a serious burst of energy in Josh Batsford‘s performance. His delivery is slow and lacking in any serious emotion or variance; he is either talking slowly or shouting, there is nothing in between. This might be meant to demonstrate a controlling nature but instead it just fails to ignite. Equally as frustrating is that for the whole (again overstretched) scene between Seren and Jake, they are meant to be FaceTiming and yet they interact as if they’re in the same room. This poor directorial decision makes all their interactions feel false, leaving the show in a state of indecision. 

There is, though, some good hidden beneath these issues. Peacock’s turn as Seren holds it all together superbly. Her scenes of panic and dread build wonderful tension and the times she is alone on stage are the best moments, without any doubt. In many ways this might work better as a solo show, which is a rather unusual suggestion when usually we want bigger casts on a fringe stage. But give her the whole stage, write the other characters around her without the need to actually see them, allowing Seren to feel completely isolated in that room. 

There are some fun ideas within Dare, and maybe with better execution they could work. Right now, the issues outweigh the positives and fail to deliver the final scares that the setup promises, but with work it really has everything needed for a classic piece of Halloween horror.

Written, directed & produced by Benjamin Parsons
Assistant producer: Eliza Mardlin
Assistant director: Julie-Ann Gregory
Lighting design by Heenal Shah

Dare has completed its run at Barons Court Theatre as part of this year’s GrinFest