House of spirits

The Show's The Thing
****

It's amazing how much we take on trust. Standing in an abandoned theatre in a black so 'pitch' I don't know if I still have feet, listening to ominous clinking and clanking out there in the ether, it feels like I've been lured on to the set of a slasher movie and the dark is about to strangle me.

The Show's The Thing, the brainchild of David Harradine, Jo Manser and Ged Barry, whisks you back to 1933 and the last show to take place in Ally Pally's once glittering theatre, with Gracie Fields, the Madonna of her day, topping the bill. Starting in a neatly detailed period foyer - don't reject the pear drop you're offered, you'll need something to suck on - the chatty usherette guides you to your seat.

None of which prepares you for the mix of magical mystery and ghostly foreboding that follows. For this is a special performance and you are an audience of one, stripped of all sense of perspective by the overwhelming black, waiting for who-knows-what to begin. It's chilling and disorienting, yet strangely exhilarating.

Then, slowly, The Show's The Thing breathes haunted life into a forgotten jewel of London's theatrical history.

Pale lights flicker on the walls and ceiling, curtains raise under ghostly orders, Gracie's voice echoes down the years and into the stalls. As your eyes and ears tune in to the spirits in the air around you and the nerves subside, it takes you aback to realise that terror has turned to rapture in the space of a mere 30min.

Weird and rather wonderful, The Show's The Thing is a minor gem.

Until Jul 22, Alexandra Palace, to the right of the ice rink, Alexandra Palace Way N22, Mon to Wed 4pm to 10pm, Thu and Fri noon to 11pm, Sat 10am to 11pm, Sun noon to 6pm (bookings every half hour), £8.50, £5.50 concs. Tel: 020 8369 5454. www.theshowsthething.co.uk Rail: Alexandra Palace