Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Hall for Cornwall

Yeah, I’d read the reviews but still wasn’t sure what it would actually be about.

What we got was a terrifying mixture of horror, sentimentality and fantasy combined with an incredible set that became anything it needed to be; A house, a forest, a farmhouse, a bathroom, a dining room a hidden world with all of its terrible creatures and, of course, an ocean.

Daniel Cornish as ‘Alternate Boy’ and Millie Hikasa as Lettie Hempstock make a compelling lead pair and the section where they swim through the ocean to escape the terrifying ‘Hunger Birds’ is enchanting.

Charlie Brooks is convincingly simpering and terrifying at the same time as Ursula a “woman” created by the creature known as The Flea, who escapes from another world through a worm hole it creates in Alternate Boy’s heart.

The swim through the 'ocean' was enchanting (Image: Supplied)

She tries to keep the boy in his house using mind control. I particularly liked his escape from by pretending he is reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to fool Ursula whilst climbing out the window while she and his father are “otherwise engaged”.

Finty Williams is hilarious as Old Mrs Hempstock with me half expecting her to go full Peggy Mitchell and tell the monsters “To get ‘outta’ my land!”.

Dad, played by Trevor Fox, goes from a loving father to murderous monster under the influence of Ursula. The scene where he tries to drown his own son after he refuses to accept the infiltrator into their home is particularly terrifying as it is so out of character.

I loved the theme of lost worlds of our youth. Worlds that can be imagined through books and how there are guardians still protecting us from trials of modern life, although it is something you can never return to.

The accents all have a west country burr, apart from dad who is a Geordie, which plays into the show’s theme of loss and memory as the story is set in Sussex where writer Neil Gaiman grew up. They were the accents he heard as a boy but are mostly lost now.

Scenes flowed into the play creating a seamless transition throughout the show with the stage hands/actors becoming part of the act.

Different worlds are created, with some of them genuinely scary, especially our first sighting of “The Flea” which reminded me of the multi-headed monster in the sci-fi horror The Thing.

The ‘Hunger Birds’ which eat anything not of this world, are also terrifying especially when devouring The Flea and then trying to get to the boy who still has the alien wormhole in his heart.

Kudos to costume and puppet designer Samuael Wyler and his team for creating these monsters.

All in all this is not a story for children but fans of Stranger Things will be drawn into the world it creates.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is at the Hall for Cornwall until Saturday, September 23.

Tickets for The Ocean at the End of the Lane are on sale at www.hallforcornwall.co.uk/whats-on/the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane/