Film fans in Jesmond will get a chance to watch a silent version of Phantom of the Opera tomorrow evening (Saturday 15 October) at St George’s Church, accompanied by professional organist Darius Battiwalla.

The film will start at 8pm as St George’s, a church built in the 1880s, becomes the setting for this gothic thriller.

“Films aren’t shown in churches very often, but they’re the perfect venues,” said Drew Cantrill-Fenwick, the director of music at St George’s Church and organiser of the event. “The stained glass makes the interior quite sombre at night, and the colourful mosaics around the altar will be a fabulous backdrop to the movie. The silent format makes the acting more expressive of the narrative.”

According to Cantrill-Fenwick, St George’s Church has one of the most interesting and significant pipe organs in the north of England, built by legendary late-19th century builder TC Lewis. But “it is now in urgent need of restoration, having had very little major work done to it over the past 135 years,” he said.

The film screening is designed to introduce the organ as an instrument to a wider audience and to launch fundraising for the Organ Restoration Project.

“The silent format makes the acting more expressive of the narrative. Darius will use all 44 stops of the St George’s organ to brilliant effect,” Cantrill-Fenwick said.

Darius Battiwalla is the organist at Leeds Town Hall organist and says he has played improvised organ to hundreds of silent films since in the last 12 years ago.

Cantrill-Fenwick says he believes that Battiwalla will bring enormous expertise and creativity to the score. “Every nuance of the action – and there’s plenty of murder and mayhem – will be picked up in the live, improvised soundtrack provided by Darius.”

The film runs for almost 90 minutes, during which time Battiwalla will improvise and try to match the emotion and drama of the film. “It will be a huge challenge,” admitted Battiwalla. “The Silent film is a highly developed art form. Sound can take something away from a film, and music can bring a film to life.”

Newcastle University media student Jenny Chen, who intends to attend the screening after finding the event on Facebook, said: “I’ve never seen a silent film, but I believe the music will help me understand it better.”

For more information, visit the St George’s Jesmond Facebook Page for more details. Tickets will be available on the door, or you can purchase them here.