Ghost Reader Theatre 6 Shouson Theatre, HK Arts Centre Reviewed: Jul 29 When does a horror drama stop being a horror drama? When the audience starts to snigger, which was what happened on the opening night of this Theatre 6 production, directed by Wong Ching-po. Written by Wong, Nicholl Tang and Simon Lai, Ghost Reader consists of three short ghost stories narrated by veteran actor Tam Bing-man. They're horror tales Hong Kong-style, with a widowed writer haunted by memories of other spirits, an obsessive fan killing for passion, and a woman who buries her husband alive to spare him from conscription. They all take place in the same eerie, derelict mansion, said to be on the edge of hell. The show actually got off to a good start, with effective lighting and sound. Tam's narrative was old-fashioned and at times spooky. There were a couple of scenes in which the apparitions looked real, thanks to Wong's background in filmmaking and visual effects. But the set changes were clumsy, which completely spoiled the atmosphere. The drama fell apart when the menacing force of evil finally revealed itself - as an extraterrestrial-looking being. It leapt onto a table, tried to look scary - but failed - before jumping off and walking slowly off the stage. At this point, the audience burst out laughing. Tam, the star of the 45-minute show, never appeared on stage so it isn't clear whether his performance was live or recorded. Wong deserves praise for his attempt to combine cinematic effects such as video and surround sound with theatre, but his lack of understanding of how the stage works and a weak script meant Ghost Reader was less frightening than it was funny.
