“The Theatre of Glass and Shadows” is set in an alternative post war London and is a quirky, contemporary historical fantasy novel, written by Anne Corlett, author of ‘The Space Between the Stars’ which is about a plague ravished universe. 

 

The minute Juliet set foot in the ‘Theatre District’ I felt like I physically did too. For some reason I endeared to the place instantly, not sure whether it was the magic realism of the environment or the sinister feeling of mystery and suspense of the unknown. The author has a terrific imagination and at times, I felt I was either in a ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Charles Dickens’ or ‘Alice in Wonderland’ world. The district itself was built from ‘hopes and dreams, wishes and beliefs of everyone who ever walked through the gates and held the memory of everyone who performed there’. This in itself was an ingenious story but it also included the death of numerous young girls over the years and with a police investigation on the outside of the district but hampered by upper echelon restrictions, the reader was also privy to a crime element. 

 

The book is based on the real life atmospheric and innovative art of ‘immersive theatre’. This is where the audience participates and interacts in hugely detailed environments, together with free roaming rooms following the actors or discovering the action for themselves. This encourages the integral part of the performance ensuring the maximum enjoyment of this unusual, theatre experience.  As well as all members of audience being disguised with a theatrical mask, this adds to the mystery of the performance and similarly to the ‘followers’ in the story, the actors aren’t aware of who is actually watching the show. 

 

With a tense and fast paced denouement, this book was a very enjoyable read and if you’re open to a story set just that somewhere different and with wonderful and diverse characters, then “The Theatre of Glass and Mirrors” is for you.