WINNER — PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR — NATIONAL RURAL TOURING AWARDS (2019)

Clever boys… Every time I thought I’d got it all figured out, they sprung another twist on us, then another, then another, then another. Holding a whole audience in the palm of their hands, getting us to believe one minute, disbelieve the next, then back again. They made it look so simple. It totally isn’t.

Audience Comment

Before we came, my husband was a sceptic whereas I definitely believed in ghosts. By the end, neither of us was so sure anymore! A really charming play. All the Eighties touches set the stage for everyone watching to get to grips with some really big questions about what truth means in the modern world.

Audience Comment

Beautiful show, clever, witty, poignant, thought provoking. My audiences usually prefer music events, so programming Ghost was a bit of a risk. The risk paid off — my audiences are now clamouring for more theatre at our hall — and they want to know how soon we can have Little Earthquake back again!

Rural Touring Promoter

The dead can scare us. The dead can protect us. Sometimes, the dead just want to steal our KitKats.

1986: an ordinary home in suburban Derby (on the edge of an abandoned graveyard) was the unlikely setting for some puzzling paranormal activity — and inspired by his favourite film, little Gareth became a self-appointed Ghostbuster to launch an investigation into his playful poltergeist.

2018: With the help of old home videos and new interviews with his nearest and dearest, grown-up Gareth was determined to uncover what had really been going on inside his very own haunted house.

A tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of autobiographical theatre and a comic exploration of a childhood haunting where nothing is quite what it seems — all wrapped up in some formidable fashions and set to a cheese-tastic chart-topping soundtrack.

CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOR I AIN’T AFRAID OF NO GHOST

Created and performed by | Gareth J. Nicholls and Philip Holyman
Featuring | Barbara Nicholls, Nick Nicholls and Leanne McEvoy

FOR LITTLE EARTHQUAKE

Co-Director | Gareth J. Nicholls
Co-Director | Philip Holyman
Producer | Zoë Roberts

PRODUCTION PARTNERS

A Little Earthquake Production

FUNDERS

Funded by Arts Council England through National Lottery Project Grants

THANK YOU

Arts Council England for supporting the creation of the show; Danny Warboys, Linda Muirhead, Phil Speck, David Crisp and Jayne Smith at the Department of Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham; Barbara Nicholls and Nick Nicholls; Leanne McEvoy and Jackson McEvoy; Val Holyman and David Holyman; Ewan Braithwaite; Edward Crisp; Kay Wilton; Vita Fox; Debbie Kermode, Jo Carr and the team at Midlands Arts Centre; John Kirby and the team at Attenborough Arts Centre; Lauren Barkes-Nickolds and the team at Derby Theatre; Neil Reading and the team at Arena Theatre; John Laidlaw, Chris Davis and the team at Live & Local; Arts Alive; Arts In Rural Gloucestershire; Black Country Touring; National Rural Touring Forum; China Plate; Extant and Talking Birds for supporting increased access opportunities for audiences of this show; and all of the Rural Touring Promoters who have hosted the production.

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