Review - The Cat and the Canary at Chichester's Minerva Theatre: more screams of laughter than terror in this horror story caper

Imagine that Enid Blyton rather than Conan Doyle had written the Hound of the Baskervilles and that might give you a tiny insight of what is in store.

The plot has everything.

Secret passages, books that leap off shelves, a hidden diamond necklace, and a Will that unlocks a fortune – but who out of the small house party of eccentric guests will be the beneficiary?

We have an escaped homicidal maniac on the run who is almost certainly lurking on the bleak moors, murders aplenty, and a cast who are definitely playing the script for every laugh that can be wrung from its spine-tingling hypothesis.

Carl Grose’s adaptation of John Willard’s play has some great lines. But it’s real strength is its visual humour and ability to surprise. It’s no wonder it began life as an American 1927 silent comedy horror film.

The atmosphere generated by the original still permeates this production.

Despite the many dark themes that are brazenly explored this is no edge of the seat terror.

The cast might be spending a long and harrowing night in a large empty house – but the time whizzes by for the full house watching at the Minerva.

Nick Haverson moves seamlessly from one character part to the next while Lucy McCormick as Annabelle West – who has to hold on to her mental capacity if she is to retain a fortune – sparkles amidst the slap-stick.

It’s not the greatest comedy nor the finest play ever to have been staged at Chichester. Nor does it pretend to be.

But as distractions go, it provides a great couple of hours of fun, with some laugh out loud moments and a warmth and energy that quite literally brings the curtain down on a triumphant Festival 2024.