Romance, thrills and spine-tingling tales on The Hawth's small stage this autumn

On Tuesday, October 4 (7.45pm), Rumpus Theatre Company present The Haunting of Exham Priory, a spine-tingling new play based on the classic Gothic chiller The Rats in the Walls by H P Lovecraft. Mr Delapore retires to England to restore his ancestral home, which has lain in ruins for over 300 years. What tragedy overtook the ancient de la Poer family in a single night? Why do the locals hate and fear the Priory so much? And what is there in the walls that so unsettles the Delapore cats? On Wednesday, October 19 (7.45pm), Kathryn Barker Productions present The Collector, which is set in Mazrat Prison, Iraq, in 2003. One of Saddam’s most notorious torture houses, where more than 10,000 people died, is now under Allied command. Nassir works there, translating for the American interrogators. He’s pro-Western and determined to bring liberal values to his country. But when he is recognised by Faisal, a new prisoner and psychotic supporter of the old regime, his life becomes a living hell. On Tuesday, November 1 (7.45pm), AJTC Theatre Company presents The Underground Man, a portrait of a life of fascination, obsession and scientific curiosity. William John Cavendish Scott-Bentinck, the 5th Duke of Portland, is an eccentric English aristocrat whose imagination and curiosity know no bounds. He struggles to come to terms with a world that is teeming with new knowledge, ill-founded opinion and gossip. In a sequence of events that are bizarre and hilarious William reveals moments of surprising perception and wisdom. On Friday, November 4 (7.45pm), Triskellion Irish Theatre present One Easter Morn. This is the story of the Easter Week uprising. It marks the centenary of the events in music, song, prose and poetry, written, narrated and acted by Gerry Molumby with music from Irish Mist duo. On Thursday, November 10 (7.45pm), 2 Bit Classics present Pride and Prejudice. See 21 characters, two actors and one of the most romantic stories of all time. On Saturday, December 3 (7.45pm), Dyad Theatre presents Christmas Gothic. Viewers can come in from the cold and enter into the Christmas spirit as a dark and spectral woman tells haunting tales of the festive season, lighting a candle to the frailties of human nature and illuminating the cold and chilling depths of the bleak, wintry dark. Following the international touring success of Female Gothic, Dyad Productions resurrects a Victorian tradition by presenting three seasonal tales of terror to provoke gooseflesh for dark Christmas nights. This offbeat celebration of Christmas is adapted and performed by Rebecca Vaughan. Tickets are available from the box office on 01293 553636 or online at www.hawth.co.uk. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on. 1 Make our website your homepage 2 Like our Facebook page 3 Follow us on Twitter 4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out! Be part of it.