Tag: horror

Rollicking Entertainment presents The Dunstan Creek Haunting

Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, there’s something eerie about a ghost story that’s based on real-life events. The Dunstan Creek Haunting explores the spooky happenings that took place in St Bathans, Central Otago (formerly known as Dunstan Creek) during the gold rush era which is reportedly the most haunted region in New Zealand.

Dave and Lizzie are keen paranormal investigators whose appetite for the supernatural lead them to dig deeper into this former mining town with a dark past. They present to us their findings in the form of a series of slides with the main focus of their discourse being the Vulcan Hotel which hosts the town’s most famous ghostly resident, Rose McKendry.

The show’s synopsis and publicity make it no secret that there is more to expect than just visual aids and reenactments, that the performers’ affable disposition and jovial banter is really a red herring to mislead us. Slowly but surely we get a sense there is something sinister lurking underneath the surface; not knowing when and how things are going to unravel is what keeps the audience on edge.

The narrative turns on its head when a chilling presence disrupts the proceedings prompting the space to quite literally come to life through clever staging and well thought out trickery. The timing is pitch perfect  and paced effectively to create an increasingly tense and unsettling atmosphere. There is a very palpable air of dread and foreboding among the audience which Dave and Lizzie skilfully harness and build on until the most heart-pounding, thrilling conclusion.

Part seminar, part séance and full on nerve-wrecking, The Dunstan Creek Haunting is a terrifyingly excellent take on the horror theatre genre. It is brilliantly crafted and thoughtfully designed to be a genuinely harrowing experience that is sure to unnerve even the biggest of cynics.

The Dunstan Creek Haunting is at the Herald Theatre until 31st October. For more details and to book tickets, click here.

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Dark Lake: A Hunted Interactive Experience

Theatre is all about escapism – a good work should transport you, incite emotion and hopefully resonate in your memory. This interactive walkthrough play, likened to an Edgar Allen Poe story, certainly ticks all these boxes.

Dark Lake is a unique, horror-themed theatrical offering where there is no stage or seats and the Fourth Wall between performer and audience member doesn’t exist. Set outdoors at nightfall with staggered start times that only allow for a small group each time, it gives the audience a whole different, thrilling way to experience theatre.

Just as it requires a level of daring to attend this play, it takes guts – and skill – to put on a production like this as in the wrong hands it could teeter towards the style over substance territory. Thankfully the Hunted team are not amateurs in this game and it shows.

A premise like this relies heavily on creating an environment that is not overly orchestrated so it allows the audience to suspend their disbelief and invest in the story. The company have achieved this brilliantly along with building and maintaining a palpable ominous feeling in the air. Familiar ground take on a more sinister quality in the dark and as there is no stage, the parameters of the performance space have been completely redefined. As the story progresses, there is a very real sense of dread and you constantly find yourself looking in all directions in anticipation for what’s next.

What really sets this apart from your standard theatre piece is the interactive aspect. The experience is set up so that you are meant to engage with what’s happening and while you can be as involved as you want to be, you also should be prepared to do what is required to proceed. The narrative evolves organically depending on how you as a group choose to act and react as things unfold which keeps things unpredictable and malleable.

While the characters you encounter on the journey are interesting and disturbing in equal measure, there is room to delve deeper to give this macabre story more depth. Similar can be said about the puzzles peppered along the way – more of these would have upped the stakes and enhanced the narrative. The experience is considerably short so there is definitely potential to push the envelope further and increase the eerie factor that bit more.

Dark Lake is a well crafted, thoroughly unsettling and chillingly atmospheric experience that will have you on edge from start to finish. It is not for everyone but if you can brave it, this is an unforgettable, visceral experience that challenges the boundaries of what theatre could be and where it can go.

Dark Lake is in multiple cities across New Zealand. The exact location is secret and will be emailed to you once you have booked tickets. Most dates are already sold out so get in quick! For dates and more details, click here.