Lady From the Deep

Second Draft Theatre is bringing Lady From the Deep to The Folk of Gloucester on Friday 30 October, with a matinee the following day, Saturday 31 October. It's a one-woman play written by David James and performed by Jasmine James, a veteran of the Cheltenham theatre scene. The two dates sit right on Halloween weekend, which fits the bill: the play is a horror piece, and the company is billing it as a Halloween show of mystery and suspense.

The story is set on a stormy evening in 1930s Cumbria. The character on stage is Cassilda, a playwright who welcomes the audience into her living room to perform excerpts from her latest work and explain what inspired it. She draws on the folklore of the Cumbrian lakes and legends of an ancient, powerful presence sleeping beneath the water. It's a play within a play, so you're watching Cassilda perform her own work while she tells you how it came together.

James wrote the piece with the horror stories of Robert W. Chambers and H.P. Lovecraft in mind, and that influence runs through the whole thing. If you're familiar with their work, you'll recognise the atmospheric dread and the sense of something old and unsettling stirring just out of sight. It's a small cast—just Jasmine James on stage—so the focus stays on her and the story she's unfolding.

There's a popup bar serving refreshments, and the venue is The Folk of Gloucester, Bishop Hooper's House, 99-101 Westgate Street, GL1 2PG. The evening show is Friday 30 October at 7:30pm, and the matinee is Saturday 31 October at 3:00pm. Adult tickets are £14.00.