I was in two minds about booking into Belt Up Theatre’s A Ghost Walk; when it comes to matters paranormal, I’m an unashamed fraidy-cat.  But the youthful local company, recipients of a prestigious award from the Edinburgh International Festival, are using this unusual alfresco performance to kick off a residency at York’s Theatre Royal.  I had high hopes for another winner, so I screwed my courage to the sticking-place – and I’m pleased to say, they didn’t fail.

I needn’t have worried, in any case; Belt Up’s take on a ghost walk rises above cheap scare tactics.  Instead, it pokes gentle fun at our own expectations, subverting our know-it-all cynicism to often-hilarious effect.  Time and again on our walk round the cramped alleyways of York, I smugly predicted what would surely happen next; and time and again, the actors were one step ahead of me.

It’s an affectionate homage to the genre, mostly played for laughs, and on the night I attended the whole audience seemed caught up in the fun.  But for all that the tour’s enjoyable, that’s only half the point.  Alongside the standard walking-tour patter, there’s a separate narrative underway – and while I can’t reveal too much of the twist in the tale, you’ve probably guessed that you will see a ghost.

The couple standing next to me picked up the lurking figure first, swapping whispered notes of their sighting as we hurried after our guide.  But soon I too clocked the spectral follower – once, twice, then three times.  And with the realization that he was somehow all around us, an entertaining tour switched suddenly to being an equally enjoyable treasure hunt.

Each time we stopped for a story, my eyes roamed the streets and the windows, hungry for a glimpse of our ghostly companion.  I turned eagerly each time I heard footsteps – were those men mere passers-by, or was our spirit hiding in the midst of the crowd?  A flash of red gloves on a steering wheel.  Was that him in the car?  It could be the stuff of nightmares, but it’s done without menace and it’s all great fun; as the pace picked up towards the end, I was running like a child over cobbled streets, thrilled by the hunt for our ethereal shadow.
 
The story behind the haunting, when it’s finally revealed, feels a little lightweight – it skims along the surface of some very deep waters, and it’s over a bit too quickly.  But it’s still a subtle poke in the gut, and the emotional arc from humour through excitement to tragedy is tightly and skilfully done.  The physical journey around the city is well-managed too, a notable improvement on the scarcely-controlled chaos which defined some of Belt Up’s early promenade work.

I think you’ll enjoy A Ghost Walk – whether you dedicate yourself to the spooky stories, treat it as a live-action Where’s Wally, or tune into the underlying plot.  But one final word of advice: skip the last segment, a disappointing afterthought designed solely to get you back the Theatre Royal.  The real finale is rivetingly emotional, and comes a few moments earlier on the steps of the Minster.  You’ll know it when you see it; savour it, and then, like the ever-present ghost, simply melt away.

York Theatre Royal, daily (except Sundays) until 6 March, 8pm.  Theatre website and online booking.
You can hear more about A Ghost Walk in this interview with Belt Up's directors.