Filth. Lust. Degradation. Murder. Everything you need for a swinging Saturday night in Norwich!

Sewell Barn Theatre is a lively local community theatre company who put on an increasingly ambitious range of productions with a very professional approach. For a few days until 19th October their charming small theatre has been transmogrified into the Parisian Théâtre du Grand Guignol which shocked and delighted theatregoers from the 1890s to the 1960s. The theatre company there presented evenings of short plays featuring both horror and comedy and tonight we enjoyed six little tales of depravity from the Sewell Barn ensemble.

The company have gone to great lengths to turn the whole venue into an atmospheric reproduction of the original Grand Guignol, which itself was housed in a converted deconsecrated chapel in the Pigalle district. Our Mistress of Ceremonies (Indigo Douglas) welcomes the audience in a suitably saucy manner and links the six plays together. My tip is to be careful about eye contact with her if you are not in a brave mood.

The six plays were written between 1906 and 2013. They vary between gory horror and domestic farce. We see a victim of an acid attack confront their former partner, who also carried out the attack. Will there be forgiveness, or will revenge surface?

Another tale sees the use of possibly the most impressive stage prop I have ever seen in a Norwich theatre where a working guillotine takes centre stage. Possibly not the cleverest place to go for a bit of impromptu nooky! When the lad trapped in the headrest finds that his lover’s husband maintains the machine we know that dire consequences could ensue.

A Russian diplomat hires a room in a posh brothel, but his purchased playmate is maybe more than she first appears to be, and his past misdeeds catch up with him. Helpless with drink he has no chance of escape.

In perhaps the most chilling story a girl in a nun-run asylum fears for her life as her deranged room mates gang up on her. This one is not for the faint hearted and like all six is superbly acted by the ensemble cast.

A bit of light relief comes with the fifth playlet, ‘The Kama Sutra’. Penned in 1922 this romp looks at the tricky business of monitoring a maid’s morality when this perky illustrated volume is found in her room. The discovery throws open the fragility of the sexual tensions in a middle class family with the trouser-dropping action that would grace the best Brian Rix farce.

The final piece is a dark modern chiller that leaves us pondering an almighty ‘what if’ proposition. A hooded figure in shorts and a shell suit top with plenty of bling is held hostage by two of his child victims, now disturbed adults determined to bring his crimes to light. But will justice be pre-empted by something much more visceral? We are in Grand Guignol, and the title of this last play gives you the clue: ‘We’ll Fix It!

The set designers have excelled themselves for this production, and the whole theatre has been transformed to match the mood of the Parisian original. The Sewell Barn is a perfect setting for this transformation, every twist and turn through the building gives another delight. The production is well paced with the actors confident in their roles, some of which demand intense dramatic skills to perform. They build credible characters often seen at a time of great crisis in their lives, with bloody consequences.

The theatre was deservedly full on my visit, and you have just a few more days to catch this entertaining evening of horror and passion. There will be laughs and screams, best take your smelling salts to perk you up if it all gets a bit overwhelming!

© Julian Swainson, Norwich Eye, 12 October 2024

Grand Guignol is at the Sewell Barn Theatre from 16-19 October at 7.30 pm, with a matinee at 2.30 on the 19th. Go to sewellbarn.org to book.