Are you a fan of scary movies? How about some scary theatre?
Possession: Fear Never Sleeps is an immersive horror experience developed by the team at Halcyon Playhouse.
Using story, sound, light, smell and touch, the team at Halcyon create a unique experience for the audience and actors each performance.
Each performance of Possession: Fear Never Sleeps is subject to change, with both the actor and audience being exposed to different elements each performance. Immersive theatre involves placing the audience within the story-world. Rather than having a separated stage and auditorium, everything is the ‘stage’, and the audience are placed there alongside the actors.
The actors move freely through the space, having no interaction with the audience and only engaging with the other actors in the space. Halcyon Playhouse will be performing this unique format at Roxy Lane Theatre in Maylands, in a far more intimate setting than audiences will be used to, making for a unique sensory experience.
A group of strangers find themselves subjected to a sleep paralysis study, only to discover that their symptoms share far too many similarities. As each character delves a little deeper, they soon discover that there might be something far more sinister studying them.
The show features local talents Devetta Ridgwell, Zack Inglis, Nikita Harwood, Paul Reed, Bernadette Ward and Ryan S McNally along with some surprises from the backstage crew.
Ryan McNally has been faced with the challenge of devising the show, collaborating with fellow Halcyon member Chantal Wilson to direct, and performing as one of the characters.
“The show’s concept came from talking about an incident of sleep paralysis that I suffered several years ago” McNally said. “Still to this day I cannot really explain why or how… you might even get to hear about it in the show!”
“Something that we wanted to do was really immerse the audience from the moment they walk in to the end of the show and have them feeling what the characters feel” McNally added. “It’s an interesting concept knowing that what some of the actors bring is actually based on real experiences.”
“The subject matter of the show is scary on it’s own, however my biggest fear is not knowing 100% what is going to happen each performance. We have things in place that are really going to test us”
McNally said the development of the new production had been a fun process to go through.
“It has been fun collaborating on this with various actors, everyone had brought something to the table and now we get to show it.”
McNally and Wilson have worked closely with all the actors to put the pieces of the show together.
“I love scary stories and experiences” said Zack Inglis. “It’s been a thrill to be able to express yourself in such a dark play. The immersive work of Ryan McNally always exciting to be involved with”.
“I have to be pretty physical on stage” said Bernadette Ward. “There’s a lot of falling, pushing and crawling. Teamed with the pressure of being 100% believable in my performance is definitely going to keep me on my toes!”
“This show is filled with twists and turns, laughs, suspense, and just enough mystery that it will leave you scratching your head at the end of the show” added Ward. “It isn’t necessarily something you’d see every day – I think the whole show is just one big surprise”.
Possession: Fear Never Sleeps plays at 7.30pm December 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 with a special double performance on Friday the 13th at 9.30pm. Book tickets at www.halcyonplayhouse.com.
Source: Media Release
