The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
John Heimbuch & Jon Ferguson
Directed by Mark Joyce
Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
Star rating: 2
Ichabod Crane (Daniel Krmpotic) arrives in Sleepy Hollow, a small town in rural New York State. As the new schoolmaster he’s an educated man. who ought to be dismissive of local superstitions such as a headless horseman who rides in the woods. But he’s gullible in spite of himself and therefore an easy target for the locals who don’t want him to marry Katrina Van Tassel (Ruthie Berk) with whom he has fallen in love. She fancies the much more macho Brom Bones (Alexios Venieris) so there’s a quasi-love triangle running beneath the ghostly nonsense.
An ensemble of seven supports the action and there is some quite strong acting as they take on minor, but meaty, character roles. Conrad O’Callaghan, for example is convincingly versatile especially as the slimy parson. The plot is unfolded by the ensemble who, chorus-like, share a split narrative. And they act out the set piece stories with which they frighten Ichabod. It’s quite slick.
There are, however, several problems. First there’s location. Washington Irving’s 1820 short story on which this play is based is set – obviously – in America. There is no attempt in this production to capture that – everyone uses his or her natural accent – beyond the occasional contemptuous reference to the British and the (fairly) recent Revolution. If you don’t know your history it will mean nothing.
Second, the dialogue is miserably laboured. It’s like WS Gilbert on an off-day trying to be funny and failing – without the glory of Sullivan’s music to rescue it at the end of each laboured chunk.
Moreover it’s very difficult to bring off something which is meant to be hammy without being – err – hammy. It often presents as weak overacting. Although much of that is probably deliberate, it’s a fine line.
Simone Chung’s sound design adds a creepy atmosphere although at one point I mistook it for someone’s mobile phone ringing – and sighed in exasperation. As one does.
Finding ways to exploit Tower Theatre’s unusual triangular playing space is always a challenge but, with three entrance points along the hypotenuse Mark Joyce and his company use every part of it to pleasing effect. Dina Benderra’s set does its job and the portrait on the wall with the movable face, through which characters sometimes speak, is good fun.
The ghostly enactments are nicely done too with dramatic lighting (Steven Cox) and the smashing masks (costume design by Carmen Otero Loira) are the best thing in the show.
On balance though, ninety minutes (no interval) is a long stint for something which is meant to make you laugh but doesn’t – even for Halloween.
