The parlour game of Werewolf (originally known asMafia) has been a popular event pastime since its creation in the mid 1980s. So it’s perhaps not wholly surprising that with a little ingenuity, and a whole lot of gumption and charm, New Zealand theatre group Binge Culture has transformed it into an interactive play set in a subterranean bunker during a strange apocalypse.
Set over various days and nights, the performance sees the 40-odd strong audience play out the adventure led by a trio of Wardens who are trying to keep everyone safe for the duration, when not bickering amongst themselves.
The brilliance of the piece is the simplicity. The circular staging means that the entire audience are facing each other, never knowing who is suspect, who else might be part of the show and who are mere punters along for the ride. To add to this, each seat has a card with secret instructions for each participant, anything from a piece of vital information to be offered in a specific circumstance, or simply to write down and display the current in-gamer day on a whiteboard.
The fun of the piece comes largely from the brooding paranoia, as each night the lights goes out and strange sounds echo in the pitch-black room, only to reveal weird new events at the breaking of the dawn. But it also stems from the interplay between the Wardens and the audience, and, depending on how much and how people want to interact, this can add new layers of bonkers hilarity to the already delightfully silly horror fun.
It’s hard to argue with a show that has people screaming in terror one minute then giggling like children the next. It’s an absolute must for horror fans and anyone who just wants to spend an hour wondering how they’d deal with being locked up in a bunker during the end of the world.