OBSERVER: Haunting of Spook Mansion
Producer/writer Michael Ward has announced the cast for the premiere season of The Haunting of Spook Mansion (by Ghosts), to be presented at Chapel off Chapel from November 12-23.
Writer/director/actor Peter Houghton is Adrian Chambers, Emily Taheny (core cast member of Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell) is Beth Jackson and Ben Russell (international renowned comedian) is Flugel.
Directed by Russell Fletcher, the story tells of paranormal investigator Adrian Chambers’ career being all but over and his bank balance running on empty.
But a chance meeting with a mysterious stranger presents him with an offer too lucrative to pass up: $500,000 to spend a night in a haunted house.
To a sneering sceptic like Chambers, it should be money for jam. But what happens when someone who has spent half a lifetime disproving the existence of the supernatural … comes face-to-face with the ghosts of his past?
Ward says: “As a kid I devoured horror comics, ghost stories and horror films. My comedy taste, meanwhile, has always been influenced by the silliness of ZAZ (Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers), the guys who made films such as Flying High and Top Secret. Horror and comedy have a lot in common, so it felt only natural to bring them together on stage.
“As a horror and comedy fan, I’d love to see more shows like Spook. While stand-up comedy and musicals are ubiquitous, original comedy plays – especially genre-based seem quite rare. Australian horror is booming at the cinema – why not in the theatre as well?”
Dates: November 12 – 23; Preview Nov 12, Opening Nov 13
Times: Wed.-Sat. 7.30pm, Sun. 6.30pm
Venue: Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel St, Prahran
Bookings: chapeloffchapel.com.au
Cheryl Threadgold
Pictured: The cast of The Haunting of Spook Mansion: Peter Houghton, Emily Taheny and Ben Russell

