The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman

TO LOVE IS TO FALL…

On a rooftop in Elizabethan London two worlds collide. Shay is a messenger-girl and trainer of hawks who sees the future in the patterns of birds. Nonesuch is the dark star of the city’s fabled child theatre scene, as famous as royalty yet lowly as a beggar.

Together they create The Ghost Theatre: a troupe staging magical plays in London’s hidden corners. As their hallucinatory performances incite rebellion among the city’s outcasts, the pair’s relationship sparks and burns against a backdrop of the plague and a London in flames. Their growing fame sweeps them up into the black web of the Elizabethan court, where Shay and Nonesuch discover that if they fly too high, a fall is sure to come…

Fantastical and captivating, The Ghost Theatre charts the rise and dramatic destruction of a dream born from love and torn apart by betrayal.

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The Ghost Theatre is a novel that I first heard about at this year’s Hay Festival where Mat was in conversation with his brother, Richard.  I didn’t pick up a copy at the time – as you can imagine, the queue to get books signed by both authors was extensive – but recently rectified that during a trip to Bath.

In it, we meet Shay.  A young woman who disguises herself as a boy in order to run messages for the wealthy and to give her freedom of movement without being accosted, something which works most of the time.  Shay is immediately an interesting character, not least because of this pretence of being male and the fact that we first meet her as she runs across London’s rooftops trying to evade the men chasing after her.  It’s an intriguing start, and I couldn’t wait to learn more about this feisty and daring young woman.  And I loved the reason for this mad dash escape – it lends Shay a certain mischievousness that I really liked in the character.  As we get to know her, we find a young woman burdened with the responsibility of taking care of her aging father which immediately inspires sympathy.  I liked Shay from the start, and was excited about the adventures we were about to go on together.

The other main character in the novel is Nonesuch, star of Blackfriars Theatre.  We soon learn that he’s an individual who can play any role assigned to him, but that he also likes to improvise, altering his lines as he sees fit.  For me, this marked him out as someone who will follow the rules for as long as they suit him, but one who will choose their own path in life regardless of the consequences.  It quickly becomes apparent that Nonesuch – not his real name – has secrets, and there’s a sense that while Shay opens up to him, he never truly responds in kind, and it isn’t until much later in the novel that we learn more about him and his background.  He seems to enjoy maintaining an air of mystery, and one can’t help but wonder at what secrets he’s hiding. 

The gods are birds and the birds are gods.

Shay is Aviscultan, part of a religion that worships birds.  Shay’s mother was able to see the future within a murmuration, and Shay has since been thrust into that role, even though it seems clear to the reader that she’s not quite ready for it.  Meeting Nonesuch and becoming a part of the theatre scene gives her a much-needed escape where she can breathe more easily and be herself.  It’s not until she acquires a small friendship group at the theatre that the reader truly appreciates how lonely she must have been until then – something that Shay has clearly tamped down so that she can get on with what needs to be done.

As the novel progresses, Shay becomes more entangled with Nonesuch and the idea of creating something new for the theatre scene, pushing boundaries and playing with different forms to offer something truly unique.  Shay goes along with it, and quickly becomes the star of the show as she begins to drop into a trancelike state and predict futures in earnest.  It’s something that gives momentum to their Ghost Theatre, and yet also attracts some unwanted attention as all and sundry soon want a meeting with The Sparrow, as Shay becomes known, even Queen Elizabeth I herself.  It also attracts attention of a more unsavoury kind as others seek to take advantage of Shay and the potential wealth that comes with such demand. 

The Ghost Theatre is historical fiction with an element of the fantastic.  I found it a little slow to start as the scene is set, although the characters were engaging enough that I was prepared to persevere.  I enjoyed the concept of the Aviscultan religion and the way that this lends itself to an admiration of the natural world and birds in particular.  It’s an enjoyable read, although I have to admit that it didn’t quite live up to my expectations for no reason that I can specify.