The Signalman
- Steve Pratt
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Charles Dickens, adap Francis Evelyn
Middle Ground Theatre Company
Harrogate Theatre
September 3-6, 2025; 100 mins
(also Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, October 23-25; Theatr Clwyd, Mold, October 28-November 1; Darlington Hippodrome, November 4-8; Chester Storyhouse, February 3-7, 2026;
Take several hundred people, put them in a darkened space and scare the life out of them. Sounds simple enough, but more difficult than it sounds.
This perhaps explains why effective theatrical ghost stories are rare beasts. The endlessly-touring production of The Woman in Black is perhaps the only show that comes to mind.
The Signalman has excellent credentials, being based on a short story by Charles Dickens, a writer clearly fascinated by ghosts (a theme also used quite effectively, you might recall, in a little number called A Christmas Carol).
The ghost in The Signalman is of the silent, spooky type, though there’s lots of effective smoke effects, flickering lights, cupboards opening without being touched and books plummeting from shelves unaided by human hand.
Francis Evelyn has adapted the short story for the stage, though I’m not so sure what’s described as an “extended” version - two acts running at under 100 minutes - is a good idea. I haven’t seen the shorter version but imagine it would be tighter and therefore more effective and scarier.
What we have in director Michael Lunney’s production is a lot of talk, a smattering of special effects and an excellent set featuring a railway signal box and a haunted train tunnel.
This tour, incidentally, is dedicated to Middle Ground’s late master carpenter of 23 years, Andy Martin, and the set is worthy tribute to him.
Two afternoon TV stars, Chris Walker (15 years on BBC’s Doctors) and John Burton (Sgt Daniel Goodfellow in Father Brown) do all the work as the Signalman and the Traveller.
The latter comes across the former at his signal box on his travels in the 1880s. They talk about – what else? – trains and train crashes, and a ghost that appears before a rail tragedy. Or does it?
To give more away would be to rob future audiences of the surprises in store - gentle shock moments rather than scream and scream-again events.
So, is it scary? Not in a head-turning, Exorcist way. More in a Tales of the Unexpected twist in the tail way.
More info and tickets here
