PLAY REVIEW: Scatter A Horror Play

 

After an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Scatter arrives at Underbelly with its nerve-rattling tension fully intact. Written and performed by Patrick McPherson, and directed with taut precision by Jonny Harvey, this hour of psychological horror turns the screws slowly, trading jump scares for a far more insidious unease.

McPherson’s script, part confessional monologue and part ghost story, unravels with the measured pace of someone talking themselves into — or perhaps out of — madness. He’s a magnetic presence, blending charm and vulnerability with something darker simmering beneath. Harvey’s direction amplifies that ambiguity, using flickering light, creeping sound, and claustrophobic stillness to make the audience feel complicit in whatever is unfolding.

The horror here isn’t splattered across the walls, but embedded in the language — in grief, guilt, and the human instinct to look away. When the play finally tips into the supernatural, it feels less like a twist than an inevitability.

A few moments edge towards overstatement, and the final reveal lands with slightly less force than the buildup promises. Yet Scatter remains a deftly executed reminder of how potent stage horror can be when it trusts suggestion over spectacle. McPherson proves himself not only a gifted performer but a storyteller unafraid to linger in the shadows.