When: 25th October – 27th November 2011
Where: Courtyard Theatre, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, London N1 6EU
What is it?
As the nights draw in this autumn, The Courtyard Theatre will play host to all things grisly and gruesome as it welcomes a brand new festival of live theatrical horror and the macabre. Presented by The Courtyard and Theatre of the Damned, the festival hopes to provide audiences with an alternative medium to Hollywood horror films that we have become somewhat immune to. So why not try a mix of classic and new theatre that promises to frighten and intrigue its audience? Below are the details of what the festival has to offer the brave…
Theatre of the Damned presents Revenge of the Grand Guignol
When: 25th October – 27th November at 7.30pm (except 27th October at 7pm)
£: 16 (12 concessions)
What is it?
Four short dramas inspired by Paris’s notorious theatre of the macabre. An insane scientist inflicts cruel experiments on his unsuspecting patients. Night falls on a care home where an old man is terrorised by ghosts from the past. A kinky game ends in heartbreak and murder. A beautiful young woman is trapped in a munitions factory which swims with blood.
Breathing Space
When: 25th – 30th October at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
Leonard Walker is a US acting coach who pushes his students to murky psychological recesses in the hope of improving their acting skills. Yet he doesn’t seem to teach them anything about acting. When British actress Claire sees through him, Leonard does all he can to humiliate her and destroy her presence within the group. Disturbing and darkly funny, Breathing Space is a play from new writer Dallace Jones.
Ororo Productions’ The Dunwich Horror
When: 25th October – 6th November at 9.30pm
£: 15 (10 concessions)
What is it?
An all-new adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s classic tale of ancient horror. In Dunwich – a furtive, remote village whose annals reek of overt viciousness; of half-hidden murders and incest; a bitter old wizard performs the strange rituals and unhallowed rites that will call forth the doom of all mankind.
Night of the Damned
When: 31st October – 1st November at 7.30pm
£: 10
What is it?
Halloween at the London Horror Festival. On the evening of October 31st the Courtyard opens its doors to the creatures of the night in an evening of pitch-black comedy, gothic rock, electro-carnage and undead hordes. Headlined by Release the Bats.
What? What? Theatre present Possession is 9/10ths
When: 1st – 6th November at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
Neighbours from hell and Lotto winners, Dolly and Clint Wood are having the time of their lives. Suddenly, they find themselves sitting on their sofa with a hazy memory of the previous nights’ antics. Just then, in walks a new young couple, Helen and John, who start to re-decorate. Realising they are in fact now deceased and not wanting to let death get the better of them, the Woods’ decide try to force the couple out. The nosey neighbour, Betty Box gets involved and things take a really bizarre turn.
Troma Entertainment’s Poultrygeist
When: 1st November at 10.30pm
£: 10
What is it?
The London Horror Festival is proud to present a special late-night showing of Troma Entertainment’s acclaimed Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. It will be followed by a Q&A with the legendary Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma Entertainment, fearless champions of independent horror cinema.
When American Chicken Bunker choose the Ancient Tromahawk Tribe Indian Burial Ground for the site of their latest restaurant. It unleashes forces of total clucking darkness that tear a bloody hole in the lives of two high-school sweethearts. With blood, guts, Islamic Extremists, lesbians and deep-fried, finger-licking carnage, it’s Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
Phantasmagoria Events present Camden’s Most Horrid
When: 8th – 10th November at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
You are cordially invited to a historical meeting by Professor Gary Cranks who will enthrall with the details from his latest discovery found hidden in the depths of the Camden Catacombs. A performance of formidable endings.
Facsimile Productions’ The Woods Are Lovely
When: 8th – 20th November at 9.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
A young British couple are enjoying a relaxing holiday, camping out in the mountains. The arrival of a strange man whose past makes no sense drives them into a night of guilt, recrimination and mounting horror… A new play of pitch black humour and brutal psychological violence.
Newgate Productions present The Monster Hunters
When: 11th – 13th November at 7.30pm
£: 10 (8 concessions)
What is it?
London. 1971. The forces of evil, so long lying dormant, are about to emerge to bring chaos and fear to the swinging streets of the Big Smoke. Who can stand in their way? Roy Steel, professional alcoholic, unprofessional womaniser and ex-big game hunter; and Lorrimer Chesterfield, Professor of occult studies at London University and owner of the 2nd largest brain in Britain.
Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies’ Zombie Science 1Z
When: 15th – 17th November at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concession)
What is it?
Enrol now for a spoof lecture on the real science behind the undead. Featuring a multi-media presentation, live demonstrations and an online exam certified by the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies (ZITS). Theoretical Zombiologist, Doctor Austin teaches how a zombie outbreak might occur, its effect on humans and importantly how to stop it.
The Impresarios present Fresh, Live- and Dead…
When: 18th – 20th November at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
This highly skilled company of actors take your suggestions and improvise a brand new horror every evening. Now established as one of London’s top improvisation groups, they have performed at venues across the UK, including The Lyric Studio in Hammersmith, The Old Vic Tunnels, Exeter Phoenix Black Box (at the Exeter Fringe Festival) and most recently at the Theatre503.
In the Gutter Productions present The White House
When: 22nd – 27th November at 7.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
In the twilight years of the 18th century, the notorious White House brothel catered to the specialised tastes of London’s more adventurous and discerning clientele. Now The White House opens its doors once more, inviting you in to experience the most infamous of illicit pleasures, to explore the most scandalous of secrets, and to share in the darkest of fantasies. In The Gutter Productions will take you on an immersive sensual journey through this seductive, dangerous world where anything can be yours – for a price.
Le Nouveau Guignol’s The Orgy in the Lighthouse & Other Dark Tales
When: 22nd – 27th November at 9.30pm
£: 12 (10 concessions)
What is it?
Le Nouveau Guignol presents three brutally stark plays for the London Horror Festival, bringing together two classic Grand-Guignol plays whilst showcasing new writing in the genre. Ed Allenby’s new script Penalty shows the gruesome price a young woman is forced to pay for a perceived insult; whilst in the classic Guignol comedy Chop-Chop! a man finds himself stuck in a guillotine with his lover’s husband in charge of the controls! The Orgy in the Lighthouse – until now considered too shocking for the British stage – charts the descent of a light-hearted party into torture and murder…
More info: For tickets visit www.thecourtyard.org.uk or phone 0844 477 1000.