Keeping an audience glued to their seats and gripped to your every word is no easy feat, especially when your audience is predominantly made up of people under the age of 12 – yet Sean Murphy has mastered it perfectly. Ghost Jam! takes our young audience into the world of traditional Japanese ghost stories through fascinating sounds, images, costumes and barrels of laughter.
Expect wedgies, eye patches and varying levels of fear (voted for by the audience) to play prominent features in the hilarious and gripping stories.
The stellar duo consisting of narrator Sean Murphy and Japanese instrumental connoisseur Sophie Unsen captivate the audience by retelling the traditional stories alongside music and performance that combine for a wonderfully mesmerising show for all ages. With topics such as tsunamis, red and blue toilet paper and Patrick & the samurai the diverse variety chimes excellently with the unusual instruments such as a spooky sounding waterphone.
What makes this performance stand out is the captivating abilities of our performers. Sean embellishes his stories with energetic movements, expressions and an element of charm that clearly places him above all other storytellers. Without uttering a single world, Sophie Unsen assumes the character of ‘Kitsune’ whose language is music. Perfectly beguiling the children with the unfamiliar noises, this adds an extra dimension to the narratives in their marvellously immersive world.
According to our artists, a ‘Ghost Jam’ is the haunting noise that a ghost makes when it’s trying to scare someone and we will certainly hear plenty of that from our audience throughout the hour. The vast element of audience participation (reserved luckily only for the youngsters) keeps the show fresh, upbeat and excellently unpredictable.
As for the adults in the audience, watching our storytellers maintain a great stage presence and have so much fun with their performance is wonderfully refreshing. Yet on top of that, it is through the magical combination of traditional stories welcomed so naturally by the young crowd that you are left with a heartwarming feeling after the show.
Wondering what is the most suitable, energetic and all round entertaining comedy show at this year’s festival for the kids? Look no further.
By Tamara Davison.
