Interview: Binge Culture - Werewolf
Photo taken by Louis Ferris
Binge Culture is bringing their new show, Werewolf, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. Are you ready for this immersive horror-comedy? Inspired by the iconic social game also known as Mafia, this interactive production puts audience participation right at its heart.
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/werewolf
Venue: TechCube 0 at Summerhall
When: 6th - 31st August (not performing on 18th & 25th)
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and what the show is all about?
We’re Binge Culture, from Wellington NZ. We first came to Edinburgh in 2017 with a five-hour improvised show about bananas breaking up, and we got a Total Theatre Award nomination. This time the tone is … different.
Werewolf is an immersive horror-comedy inspired by the social game also known as Mafia. The setup is that there has been a lycanthropy outbreak, and the theatre is your designated safehouse for six ‘nights’.
The three actors play the wardens whose job it is to keep everyone safe, but they each have their own ideas about how to do that. The nights are pitch dark, and the soundscape is stunning. Every audience gets a unique booklet with a secret piece of information or an action to do at some point during the show. The best scares come from the audience.
The show heavily relies on game mechanics, audience participation, and moments of pitch darkness. How do you manage the fine line between thrilling, immersive horror and keeping the atmosphere fun and comedic?
Testing, testing, testing. This show took years to fine-tune, and we’ve learned what people are comfortable with and what we can’t get away with. We don’t give anyone more than they can handle.
It’s about expectations, too. We’re upfront in how we describe the show - it’s funny, scary, and there’s some simple participation. People turn up knowing that, and so they’re ready to say yes. The story is fast-paced and pushes everything along. It’s a ride, really.
As for the comedy, we let that come out of the characters' different views, and how seriously they are taking the situation. There’s absurdity and chaos, but we treat it all truthfully.
Because the audience basically becomes the 'community' trying to survive the night, no two shows can ever be the same. How do the performers handle the unpredictability of a new crowd every single day?
It helps that the actors are playing wardens, so it’s their job to assert some control over the space and keep things on track. One thing we try to do is connect with people before the show, gauge the energy of everyone, and try to signal that we’re all working together. At the end of the day, we’re here to make everyone look good - so if we ever embarrass you, we’ve failed.
We’re also pretty good at supporting each other, even when the characters are arguing. Joel loves to improvise responses in character - sometimes we have to reign him in, or the show will last two hours.
With so many shows under our belt, we can mostly anticipate what people will do, but there are always surprises, and that helps keep us in the moment.
What do you hope audiences will take away from the show?
Each of the wardens has their own ideas about how to survive. We hope the audience will understand where each of them is coming from, and maybe think about how we act as a collective in times of crisis.
You’re coming all the way from New Zealand! Where did the idea come from to bring the show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year?
The short answer is that we love performing Werewolf. We sold out in 2024 so we’re back for more! It’s a good reason to up the ante and make the show bigger and bolder, and we’ve done that. We also just love being at Summerhall - it’s a festival within the festival, and there’s always such incredible work to see.
If you had to give future audience members one piece of advice before the lights go completely black, what would it be?
It’s OK to scream - you won’t be the only one.
