Scatter: A Horror Play ★★★★★

Many Fringe stages border on the claustrophobic, but few shows capitalize on their dark, enclosed spaces like Scatter: A Horror Play does, and the cave-like environment at Iron Belly at Underbelly Cowgate could not be more perfect for this terrifically terrifying new solo play by and starring Patrick McPherson.

The anxiety starts immediately for all those entering the venue, as it’s as close to pitch black as a space can get, making finding your way to your seat part of the adventure. Once you’ve found a place, you notice that the only set piece is an armchair with ivy and moss emerging from its innards. No question about it: we are in gothic territory.

Enter Tom (McPherson). He’s in the midst of a serious conversation with someone offstage who asks him to recall everything that happened, and whatever that everything is, it’s clearly not gonna be good. A somewhat reluctant but steadfast Tom then regales this person and us, the audience, with a series of events that lead to a remote village in Wales where Tom and his brother Lewis go to spread their recently deceased father’s ashes. Upon arriving in the village, Lewis announces that he wants to camp out in the woods. “That’s his worst trait. He’s outdoorsy,” says Tom, who opts to stay somewhere indoors, a room that ominously has no windows.

As with any good horror story, separating rarely leads to positive outcomes, and this horror tale is very, very good. Poor Tom is put through the wringer, things go from bad to worse, and when the ending comes, it arrives with a dramatic and earned wallop.

This script is tight. McPherson is as excellent as his text, able to jump back and forth in time with great clarity. Director Jonny Harvey understands the genre and delivers admirably, making the most of the space and story to catch the audience off-guard. Fortunately McPherson and Harvey are abetted and elevated by Sarah Spencer’s sound design and Will Hayman’s lighting magic. Horror plays live or die on light and sound design, and Spencer and Hayman deserve major commendations for their brilliant work. When all is said and done, Scatter: A Horror Play manages to chill and thrill in equal measure.