The retro feel was at times dim and soft and, at others, stark and sharp, playing on the sizes and odd shapes of shadows, while perpetuating the metaphor of light and dark, perspective and misconception – all of which supported the rich multi-layered plot.

With the inclusion of a chorus to enhance the tragic element of the piece, as well as the clever use of traditional sound effects performed by the ensemble, the set and its dressing were complimented by Luke Saydon’s original music score and lighting design by Late Interactive with Moritz Zavan Stoeckle. What Denise Mulholland’s impeccable direction added was the Burton-esque styling, which gave a strong nod to Henry Selick’s deliberately naïve and all the more unnerving stop-motion animation in its grotesque gothic storybook tone. With very clear intertextual references to Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart and Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the script itself revels in its own cleverness. With its eerie atmosphere and aptly sinister plotline, Oliver Lansley’s play is the perfect offering for Halloween. New theatre collective The Shrinking Violets could not have chosen a better debut performance than Ernest and the Pale Moon, which is currently running at Palazzo De La Salle in Valletta. From left, Jo Caruana, Chiara Hyzler, Tom Camilleri and Christian Galea are caught in a horrific tale of obsession in Ernest and the Pale Moon.

Ernest and the pale moon monologue