Some Halloween Theatre in London

I cannot count the hours I’ve spent in the National Portrait Gallery in London’s West End. Though sizably smaller than the adjacent National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery is equally engaging, with portraiture of all shapes and sizes from pre-Elizabethan times through to, say, Annie Liebowitz and Gilbert & George. I spent many months, sketchbook in hand, analyzing each and every picture, looking at the composition, lighting, and all those other things that enthusiastic film students look at. But I can also see how the galleries, particularly the upper floors of the Tudors, Jacobeans, etc., could prove a little unnerving to youngsters…late at night…on Halloween...

Such is the premise behind a special production presented by the Polka Theatre this Friday. The play is entitled Ghosts in the Gallery and was written by Paul Sirett. A comic-historical-horror production, it is described in a press release as 500 years of British history in a ninety-minute production:

“It’s Halloween and closing time in the gallery. A young girl is desperate to see her favourite portrait of Anne Boleyn - when suddenly two hands reach out and grab her! Will she escape or end up on the gallery walls?

“Ghosts in the Gallery will take you on a fast-paced journey through time bringing over 500 years of British history to life.


“Come and meet a host of familiar faces from the Tudors to the twenty-first century including Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill and Princess Diana.

“Take a deep breath and hold-on tight, history is coming back to haunt you!”


The Polka Theatre itself is a children’s theatre troupe with a playhouse located in Wimbledon, out west of the centre of the city; the artistic director is Jonathan Lloyd. It was founded in 1979 and, in the theatrical capital of the world, still remains one of England’s few dramatic companies devoted exclusively to children’s theatre. Their productions include innovative and interactive tours of their facilities, plays produced on-site, and touring productions such as this one in the National Portrait Gallery. I can only imagine that Sirett’s play is interactive, with the audience following the troupe into various galleries to continue the ghastly tale (and learning some history in the process). Even given all of London’s theatrical goings on, there should be no better way to introduce youngsters to the joy of theatre and celebrate the (American) holiday at the same time.