Inspired by Richard Louis Stevenson’s sci-fi short story from 1884, The Bodysnatchers arrived in Harrogate at the start of a 15 venue tour which will take it from Harrogate around Leeds, Otley, Doncaster and across the border for dates at Kendal, Preston and Southport. There wasn’t a spare seat in the Harrogate Theatre Studio as the cast of four took to the stage for this interpretation of a story that promised gore, music, comedy and a whole lot more.
Set in a dystopian future, the story is based around a disease-infected village in Scotland where scientists at a secret location are fighting to discover a cure. Needing bodies to “work on”, the arrival of a reluctant scientist to the village to help discover a cure brings the dark, grisly truth out as more and more bodies appear at the science lab for examination. Featuring a cast of four, two of the quartet play multiple characters throughout the course of the story interchanging seamlessly as the story switches between locations and situations as the story builds to its shocking conclusion.
Given that we’re heading towards Halloween, The Body Snatcher was a great way to start getting ready. The occasional scare and the use of eerie lighting in a pitch black room certainly gave the audience a good fright or two while the mix of music from the ’70s and ’80s along with plenty of humorous exchanges between the various characters was great to watch as the story unfolded and the real truth came out. Over the next few weeks this hugely entertaining play takes in fifteen venues are based around the North of England, The Body Snatcher is well worth making the effort to get out and see if you fancy a few scary laughs as Halloween lurks just around the corner.
