Horror theatre screams into Auckland
An interactive theatre of darkness is crossing the ditch next month.
Ward of Shadows, an Australian horror theatre, will be in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in March sucking participants into a haunted mental hospital for an evening of terror.
The theatre revolves around a young patient’s unsolved murder.
The audience spends the evening investigating two mains suspects: Tim - a paranoid hypochondriac and William - an aggressive psychotic.
The audience then becomes a court and jury.
Writer and director Emma Humphreys said the show wasn’t for anyone with heart or anxiety conditions as the show promises its fair share of frights.
But she said it’s not all knee jerks and screaming.
‘‘It’s not shock horror, there’s an intricate story line for an audience who have a genuine interest in story and character.’’
Unlike some of the other shows the theatre group put on, Humphreys said the show was interactive with the outcome resting in the audience’s hands.
Humphreys has been working in horror theatre since 2013, and before that she was in traditional theatre for 15 years.
She made the change after putting on a post-apocalyptic theatre show in an Australian shopping centre which was trying to boost its nighttime trade.
It was that, she said, that acted as a launching pad for dark
‘‘It's not shock horror, there's an intricate story line for an audience who have a genuine interest. ’’
Emma Humphreys
theatre.
‘‘Since then we’ve had a horror series with nearly 20 shows covering everything from the postapocalypse to serial killers.’’
Ward of Shadows was well received in Victoria with a soldout season in 2016.
‘‘The nightmare hospital vibe is a horror tradition, it’s a horror classic.’’
New Zealand will be the theatre company’s first international destination.
Humphrey’s said this was partly because of how much they’ve enjoyed kiwis in their Australian shows.
‘‘New Zealanders are our favourite audience members, they really get into it and invest in the story.’’
The show, brought across by Hunted the Interactive Horror Experience, is on in Auckland from March 9 to 12, Christchurch from March 16 to 19 and Wellington from March 23 to 26.
Location of the shows are currently a secret.