Theatre Review – The Croft

It’s not often that I leave a theatre so baffled…

First of all, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed The Croft. It ticked all the ‘chilling’ theatrical boxes – it was suspenseful, compelling and mysterious. I enjoyed vicariously visiting the remote Scottish Highlands, away from all modern life with naught but the spirits to witness what happens there… I adore Gothic stories – hence having a blog dedicated in part to them, and this had all the makings of an excellent ghost story.

The witch, Enid (Liza Goddard), was an excellent malevolent spirit, the aforementioned location was perfect for a Gothic tale and the multi-generational trauma and spiritual possession were all wonderful tropes to recreate. But with a lack of clear direction, the audience suffered confusion and were left ultimately unsatisfied. The threads of mystery, although interesting, had no pay off. We were left wondering what it was we were supposed to have experienced – what is it we should feel? The Gothic is a deeply ‘feeling’ genre. In being so abstract in the resolution and not providing a clear pay-off to the tension building, the play seemed to fizzle out and flop in its final scenes.

Gracie Follows was a brilliant young actor and an exceptional singer – I loved the vocal dissonance she achieved. She really shone in her roles, as did Liza Goddard (who played Enid, the long-dead witch), but, unfortunately, it was the other actors who seemed a bit stiff… Perhaps a little uncomfortable with the material themselves, some of them didn’t seem entirely sold on what their characters were saying and so, in turn, they didn’t really sell it to us. There were points in the speeches where the immersion was broken through the awkwardly delivered lines. I particularly noticed it in the representations of lesbianism on stage – it didn’t feel at all natural to the actors and, honestly, I am unsure whether it felt entirely natural to the audience either (and this is coming from me, a queer person.)

I think that I’d have given this play more grace had it not been first released in 2020, with five extra years to build and refine it. That said, it would be excellent to see more plays like The Croft on our stages; more Gothic plays that are original and not recreations of former works. But, in order for them to break through the competitive landscape of modern theatre and regain a foothold, we need the producers to believe in their stories so that we believe them too. Please let me repeat here… I enjoyed the play. The Croft made the audience feel like they’ve witnessed something other-worldly and chilling, but it would have been even better if it had conviction and a lasting impact.