Review: THE CROFT at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley

Date: 4th June 2025

Stars: 3

There’s a lot of promise in The Croft. A remote Highland cottage. Multiple timelines. Mothers, daughters, ghosts… the whole brooding, atmospheric package. And for the most part, it delivers exactly what you’d expect from a slow-burning psychological ghost story. There’s just a bit of creaking – and not the good kind – in the structure holding it all together.

The premise has plenty going for it. Laura and her partner Suzanne arrive at a long-abandoned family croft for a getaway that quickly turns into a confrontation with buried family trauma. The play then slips between decades, revealing Ruth (Laura’s mother) back in the 70s and, further still, Enid, a woman from the 1800s living in fear, ostracised and bound to the croft by a past that’s disturbingly relevant to the present.

Caroline Harker is particularly strong, taking on both Ruth and Suzanne in a casting choice that feels a little odd at first but actually adds an emotional undercurrent to the generational stuff. Gracie Follows makes Laura feel real – fragile, frustrated, stuck between her past and future – while Liza Goddard’s Enid is subtle, still, and haunting. There’s a gentleness to her performance that certainly makes you wonder what’s going on underneath. Gray O’Brien covers multiple roles, with varying degrees of clarity; the doubling can be a bit confusing, especially when the plot itself already asks you to keep track of so many threads.

The direction tries to keep the timelines flowing smoothly, but not all transitions are seamless. There are moments that feel disjointed, where you’re not entirely sure who you’re watching or what decade you’re in. The idea is clever, and the themes are rich – inherited trauma, grief, silence between generations – but the structure occasionally gets in its own way.

Visually, though, it’s hard to fault. The set by Adrian Linford captures the chill of the Highlands perfectly. It’s dark, sparse, and claustrophobic, just like it should be. Lighting by Chris Davey and sound by Max Pappenheim are key to the mood, and when they work, they work really well – soft shifts in colour, flickers of candlelight, or eerie silences broken by the sound of wind or footsteps. You feel the place breathing.

That said, there are some sound design hiccups; there are moments when the ghostly effects go from atmospheric to downright distracting, and in a few scenes, dialogue was lost entirely under the weight of dramatic soundscapes. If you’re not sitting close to the stage, it’s easy to miss key lines.

As for the scares, don’t go in expecting The Woman in Black. This isn’t that. The creepy moments are more suggestive than shocking. There’s the occasional visual that aims to unsettle (a rocking chair moving on its own, a figure standing where no one should be), but some of these tropes feel familiar, even predictable. The ghost story side of things often takes a backseat to the emotional story, which is fine, unless you came specifically for the ghost story.

One of the real missed opportunities is Enid’s storyline. Hers is arguably the most fascinating – set during the Highland Clearances, full of isolation, persecution, and sorrow – but it doesn’t get the space it deserves. Just when it starts to get interesting, we’re whisked away again. You’re left wanting more from that part of the tale.

Still, there’s something about the play that lingers. The performances are committed, the atmosphere is rich, and the idea of one place holding so much pain across generations is quietly unsettling. It’s thoughtful theatre, and while it doesn’t always land cleanly, it’s trying to say something deeper than just ‘here’s a ghost in the hallway.’

So is it worth seeing? Yes, especially if you like your thrillers more emotional than explosive. The Croft doesn’t go for easy scares. It goes for atmosphere, for character, for history pressing its hand against the window. Just be ready for a slightly uneven ride, where some of the most interesting elements don’t quite get their moment, and where technical choices occasionally trip over the storytelling.

But even with its faults, it still manages to leave a chill.

The Croft plays at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley until 7^th June, and tickets are available here: https://trafalgartickets.com/churchill-theatre-bromley/en-GB/event/play/the-croft-tickets