Casting The Runes – Box Tale Soup / Pleasance Theatre, London

An eery retelling of a Victorian tale of the supernatural, Casting the Runes is a perfect pre-Halloween treat.

Casting The Runes

My favourite type of horror story does not contain slasher gore or lots of jump scares. I prefer horror in its original sense, where the focus is on creating a sense of fear. A build-up of dread which becomes terrible and terrifying, all the more so for being quiet and subtle. Enter the stories of M. R. James, one of which has been adapted by theatre company Box Tale Soup into touring production Casting the Runes. James, a medievalist scholar by day, originated the ‘antiquarian ghost story’: stories with contemporary settings but scholarly or historical themes. Casting the Runes, first published in 1911, is one such story.

Casting the Runes as adapted by Box Tale Soup (close to the original but with a few changes) tells the story of Professor Edward Dunning (Noel Byrne). The country’s leading authority on alchemy, he rejects a paper by a Mr. Karswell. Karswell doesn’t take the rejection too well and, in a cautionary tale to reviewers everywhere, wouldn’t you know it that the critic who tore his book to shreds died in peculiar circumstances? The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death, but…

A perfect set up, in other words, for a story of creeping horror. Box Tale Soup perform it as a two hander (Antonia Christophers playing the critic’s sister, Miss Harrington), the two actors supplementing the cast by way of puppetry. From their first meeting where Dunning is suitably dismissive of supernatural nonsense, we follow him through a chance encounter with Karswell, the discovery of a slip of paper with an unusual runic inscription, and mysterious happenings: an image which changes between viewings, whispered messages, a sense of being followed. I won’t spoil the ending. But suffice it to say Dunning is far less dismissive by the end of the one-hour run time.

A Chill Down The Spine

This is my first exposure to Box Tale Soup’s work, and I was rather impressed. Personally I like a bit of puppetry in my theatre. I’ve seen a fair bit at the London International Mime Festival, for instance. But puppetry for adults needs to be done well: here, it is. The puppets themselves are well-crafted, but they also add to the world of the play, adding depth that may not have been achieved by the two actors simply doubling up roles. Like the cast, the set is also spare yet effective. Four street lamps, a few bits of luggage and some very clever wizardry with carpentry act as a library, an office, a train and more.

Between the set, the tone, and the language of the adaptation, Casting the Runes straddles its Edwardian origins and the world of Hitchcockian black and white thrillers. It’s perfect for this relatively genteel story of the supernatural. And atmospheric enough that I did feel one or two chills down my spine. The flickering of the lights whenever the runic inscription is about is perhaps a bridge too far, and the puppets do have to do an awful lot of exposition, but all in all this production is very good fun.

Unfortunately for London theatre-goers, I caught Casting the Runes on its last night at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington. As a side note you should check out their other listings: this was my first visit here but I loved their friendly vibe and cabaret-style seating. For those who wish to see Casting the Runes for themselves, never fear. The production is on tour in the coming months, check dates and book tickets here.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Casting the Runes continues on its UK tour in October and November. London audiences can see it at the New Wimbledon Theatre from 22-25 November 2023.