In date night ideas that are extremely not for the faint-hearted, a gruesome, horror-themed play is headed to Australia for the first time ever.
Literally called HORROR (when it works, it works), the play is the “messed-up brainchild” of Swedish bloke Jakop Ahlbom, who I can only assume got his hands on a VHS copy of The Exorcist when he was a child and it broke his brain ever since.
A teaser-trailer for the play shows flashes of blood-splattered bathtubs, creepy apparitions stalking their prey, and things you try not to think about when it’s 2am and you’re home alone.
The play itself takes place in a home haunted by family tragedy (classic), and pays homage to the greats of horror cinema: The Shining, The Ring, Rosemary’s Baby and the aforementioned Exorcist. Judging by the reviews, it looks like it takes the deadset terrifying scenes from films and, by way of excellent choreography and theatre magic, recreates and elevates them onto the stage.
Reviews outta the U.K. have called it “fiendishly clever”, “genuinely, persistently terrifying theatre” (The Stage), “choreographed to violent perfection” (The Exeunt Magazine), and “a masterclass in time-and-motion stagecraft” (The Guardian). Reading between the lines here, it looks like it’s for anyone who gets off / can stomach horror and wants to do something ‘a little bit cultural’ for a change.
It opens at the Sydney Opera House this August, before travelling to Wollongong, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane – get the full tour dates below.
Sydney (Sydney Opera House): 29 August to 2 September
Wollongong (Merrigong Theatre Company): 5 to 8 September
Canberra (Canberra Theatre Company): 11 to 15 September
Melbourne (Arts Centre Melbourne): 18 to 22 September
Brisbane (Brisbane Festival): 26 to 29 September
