The Haunted Theatre: Mark Ravenhill’s The Haunting of Susan A

Abstract

Different art forms such as music, light, sound, digital art, dance, painting, sculpture, ritual, and film can be part of the theatre. Through these components, theatre might be used to stage human existence, behaviours, places, historical dimensions, cultural history, emotions, passions, fears, and various narratives and experiences in the social dimension. Mark Ravenhill, focusing on the history of the King’s Head pub, famous people’s stories over ale, and the possibilities of what once could have happened in the room where the audiences are gathered, represents cultural history, passions, and fears and portrays a ghost story using light and sound techniques and various narratives related to the King’s Head Theatre in London. Ravenhill portrays a distinctive ghost and haunted story in his newest play, The Haunting of Susan A (2022). The ghost takes place in the world of Susan, and a private trauma is witnessed when Susan mentions the ghost or feels the ghost during the performance. This paper seeks to study the impact of Ravenhill’s play, which centres on the theatre’s past and, using Suzanne Ahmet’s ghost story, tries to activate audiences’ memories and fear and observe uncanny feelings in audiences. This study will explore the performance at King’s Head and the history of the pub, along with the theoretical approach of hauntology, envisaging which celebrities stopped by for an ale in the King’s Head history and Susan’s story (Suzanne Ahmet), an actress before, a real story (Susan insists) in The Haunting of Susan A.