By Kieran Wyatt (Grand Young Blogger)

Being scared is so much fun – plain and simple.

The Woman in Black, the theatrical production, has been heralded as “A truly nerve-shredding experience” by The Daily Mail and even a “masterpiece” by The Guardian. Scariness is a terribly personal experience; horror effects each person in a different way.

Whilst flipping through The Grand’s latest Guide I was drawn to the page dedicated to The Woman in Black’s return to The Grand Theatre in late March-early April. It reminded me of the smell of smoke, the work of the set and the smoke, smoke, smell of the smoke, or more appropriately the smell of the dry ice smoke machine. In turn this moved my mind to a joke from The Mighty Boosh, in which the talking chimp Bollo, says to the jazz-loving protagonist Howard Moon (great name) “there’s no smoke without fire,” and Moon retorts “what about smoke machines?” Bollo: “Dry ice.” If you managed to follow that then there really was no point at the end of it, so… well.

The half-point is that smoke counts and the smell of a theatre has always affected the way I watch a show. It’s not like I go to the theatre every week but, I do tend to wiggle my way into good productions every now and then. For example, The Grand’s recent ‘putting-on’ of contemporary dance-office-mash-up Blam! had a distinctly smoky, industrious smell. It fitted perfectly. When I went to see The Woman in Black a few years ago at The Grand I remember a smoky, Victorian smell which transported me straight away. Quickly this threw me away from where I was, this feeling of transportation was the beginning of why I think seeing The Woman in Black live in a theatre can be a truly scary experience. The story is a winding, story-within-a-story which loses itself in its own delicious mystery and blackness, darkness and smokiness.

Also coming to The Grand Theatre this season is Classic Ghosts which is a couple of good-old-fashioned scary, classic fun. Combining two of the best-loved ghost stories, Classic Ghosts is also a story-within-a-story, or rather two stories within one show: Dickens’ The Signalman and M.R. James’ Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You. With hope, the smoke machines with be ready in the wings…

Classic Ghosts (two ghost stories in one evening)
Tuesday 27-Saturday 31 January. More info

The Woman in Black
Monday 30 March-Saturday 4 April. More info