A play referencing Einstein, Kafka, Ibsen, Leskov and the history of New Cross risks calamitous pretentiousness. But in fact it’s intelligent, involving and downright entertaining thanks to Teatro Vivo, co-writer Michael Wagg and director Sophie Austin, who cast their audience as house-buyers being shown round a south London home by estate agent Amelia Spoke (Debbie Korley). The viewing is interrupted by ghostly couples from the area’s past as medieval farmland, gentrified Victorian development, post-war slum and today’s multicultural hub. They drift in and out in a kind of narrative kaleidoscope and are all played – brilliantly – by Mark Stevenson and Kas Darley. There are also some genuinely spooky plot-twists and clever sound effects that make this production, in association with the Albany in Deptford, a delight – with an enjoyably generous dose of goosebumps, of course.
