The Monkey’s Paw – The Hope Theatre, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

Infinite Space Theatre bring a healthy dose of Edwardian horror to the Hope Theatre, with their adaptation of The Monkey’s Paw.

Content warning: discusses bereavement and baby loss.

The Monkey’s Paw

As I was away from London for Halloween, I hope you’ll allow me a last spooky theatre review for the season. Because when I heard the Hope Theatre had programmed The Monkey’s Paw by Infinite Space Theatre, I couldn’t resist. You may be aware of W. W. Jacob’s short story, at least in broad strokes. It’s a classic tale of ‘be careful what you wish for’. A couple, facing unimaginable loss, and with the use of a mysterious, magical monkey’s paw that grants wishes, face a decision about how far they will go to have their son back. The horror, in the best tradition, is subtle, unseen, unnerving. As my Penguin edition of W. W. Jacobs says, the story “shows his craftsmanship in evoking the uncanny.”

Infinite Space Theatre have extended the premise of The Monkey’s Paw from a short story to a full length play. To do so, they have made substantial changes, although the key plot points remain. There is still a monkey’s paw of course, although its origin is different. It ties into an expanded story of financial hardship, baby loss,* the British Museum, and Flinders Petrie. Crucially, Herbert White is no longer a young man in this adaptation, but a baby, and one I would definitely call uncanny at that. In general the setting is still very Edwardian, but with a bigger helping of deprivation than the original.

Does it work? For the most part yes. The world it conjures, of pharoahs, and dusty archives, and expanding suburbs, is very atmospheric. The unseen horror is still there: a mother’s overriding love vs. a father’s terror and desperation. If there’s one element I thought was more difficult to pull off, it was the use of puppets. A good way as always to handle child characters without child actors, but when a key plot point centres on whether young Herbert is “gaining reality” (you’ll have to see the play to find out what that means), the real/not real nature of a puppet makes it slightly hard to follow.

*Hinted at in the original but developed further here.

Not Quite a Chill Down My Spine, But Thoroughly Engaging

What really stood out for me was the set design (Hannah Williams) and how inventively it was used. The space at the Hope Theatre is small, but the design is compact, detailed, and full of suggestive touches that quietly built the atmosphere. Gisela Mulindwa’s props (working with Gabi Maddox) build on the domestic Edwardian world Williams has created. Books, tea things, a little mummy, and of course the monkey’s paw, are used to make the world feel lived in, and to shift it, as needed, into something uncanny. A simple rearrangement or a flicker of light (lighting design by Alex Forey) moves us from the ordinary to the ominous in a heartbeat.

The movement sequences were another strong element, elegantly filling in the gaps in the story. We saw Jenny and John’s courtship, all hope and laughter, and later the way they grew apart as they faced repeated losses. Those scenes were nicely judged, the physicality tender and then brittle, giving us a real sense of what the words left unsaid. Overall I thought Josephine Rogers and Stephen Maddox gave solid performances throughout. I actually couldn’t see Maddox as anything other than Edwardian by the end: a good bit of casting!

Leah Townley’s direction kept our attention fixed throughout – impressive when both actors remain on stage for the full play. There was a real sense of shared confinement, of lives lived side by side yet slipping slowly out of sync. Peter Michaels’s sound design did a lot of subtle work here too, conjuring the mundane (stoking a fire) alongside the magical and the mysterious.

Did I get that delicious Halloween chill down my spine? Not quite. But I did find it thoroughly engaging: thoughtful, atmospheric, and well-performed.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

The Monkey’s Paw on until 8 November 2025. More info and tickets here.