Fright House Productions Presents
The Wheel of Misfortune
Expect a Darkly Comic Horror Anthology for the Stage full of Frights and funnies.
A Horror comedy anthology like no other using multimedia aspects. Inspired by Tales from Creepshow, The Twilight zone and Goosebumps, anthology play filled with mystifying stories combining both horror and hilarity! We wish to invite you on a spellbinding trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and beyond!
The Space @ Surgeons Hall Theatre 1
Dates: 4–19August 2018 (not 13th)
Time: 21:40 (0hr 45)
I'm really interested in the neuro diversity of your company, because I am in the process of having a diagnosis of ADHD. That was last year's excuse for not getting my work done in time. Nevertheless what does it mean to you to say that you are neuro diverse and how does this impact on the work that you make?
Sandy Jack: So, we have two Actors in our cast with ADHD. For me personally I have Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia. For me being diagnosed was both a revelation, a blessing and a curse. I think especially in taking on producing writing, directing and acting in a fringe production. There are so many challenges with that. Especially numbers. You could say they are my kryptonite. I know the others can struggle a bit with organisation, learning lines, as can I. I think to say we are neurodiverse and produce something like we have is very important to show others it’s not something that has to be seen as a hinderance.
Growing up the Academic side of things was a horror Film in itself for me. It wasn’t something that was accepted so much as it is now. So, creativity and passion were like an escape for me. I loved to watch multiple films and write my own stories from an early age; Writing is still a challenge for me so getting it onto a stage when the script is not written with perfect punctuation and grammar is a massive achievement for me personally. Some of the writing like the stories and shows it’s inspired by in this production. Does feature some characters that like me growing up a bit confused why I couldn’t do certain things as well as others and feel a bit hopeless and lost.
Thinking about horror for the stage. There are notable examples of the genre, but it isn't necessarily that common. What is it about horror that makes you want to bring onto the stage? And do you have any particular artistic influences within theatre.
I think because Horror is fairly niche in these festivals it’s what attracts me to do it rather than drown in the vast amount of comedy shows. We chose Horror primarily but are still able to incorporate comedic element’s. Most of us grew up on things like Monty Python, League of Gentlemen, Young Frankenstein so there is a lot of that influence in our show. That been said I have also seen and been inspired by some Horror shows, notably I saw the Twilight zone for stage in London, Ghost stories and the woman in black. The first show I did in 2016 called Nightmares was very inspired by Woman in black.
But two of the closest in tone to our show was ones I had caught at the fringe. “The Toxic Avenger “ and “Wonderman” which was based on Roald Dahl’s Tales of the unexpected. A tv show I was very fond of growing up. My background is in Children’s shows and Pantomimes believe it or not so the interaction parts of our show almost venture on Horror Pantomime. I also did my Dissertation on Horror It was a study about creating a Hollywood Horror Icon like Freddy Kruger or Norman Bates. It included looking at the social commentary in the history of Horror movies. That’s something that’s always spoken to me about the genre. That We can say certain things in some of the most surreal and creepy ways. (Probably not surprising one of my biggest influences not for stage but screen is David Lynch)
Although talked about them than foraging shows that have influenced you, from the wonderful image that you have, I can see perhaps an influence of EC comics. These of course caused a tremendous role panic in the 1950s, and I wonder whether something similar may happen to your production? Are you hoping to shock and enthrall audiences?
Yes, EC Comics are absolutely the inspiration. I discovered the Vault of Horror Podcast in lock down and Absolutely Fell in love with it, and of course the inspiration from Tales from the Crypt and Creepshow echoes that. I think we have set out to create a surreal tone that could leave viewers feeling like they had a fever dream a bit like Lynch) I think on one hand the stories from EC Comic’s in the 50’s were fairy early before films of the 70’s 80’s 90’s pushed the boat more. Tales from the Crypt survived something like 9 series so I’m not too worried about that. I think with new anthologies coming out more and more there’s less risk, Things like Black mirror, The new Twilight Zone, Creepshow. We have tried to cater within the rules of modern day with all sorts of moral choices in the writing like Ethnic Equality, Gender etc, but of course we wouldn’t complain if some of the stories stuck in people’s minds. When we first did a test run last year at Edinburgh Horror Fest there was one story that literally rung around people head’s one of them now being a co producer after watching it.
Might be that you are an Edinburgh company, but what makes you bring the show to the fringe? Being based here, you might have seen the carnage and are more familiar than most people with the dangers "of being part of" the world's biggest arts market.
So originally after the free fringe last year I had never planned to do it this year, things took a turn at the Edinburgh Horror Fest when our now co producer came to see it and decided he wanted to try and make it a TV show eventually. We had done the free fringe before (which I would recommend for anyone who wants to bring a show) It captures the spirit of what the fringe originally was and there is a real community feel from my experience.
But as we had never tried a paid venue, we decided we should try it at least once and unfortunately for theatre you seem to be taken a bit more seriously at a paid venue. This also plays into the Neurodiversity. I think being able to put our show on here is appealing as we are not a show hat falls into what other theatres would accept for a tour or a run usually. Being based here certainly helps it means we can still work our jobs around it and are not paying extreme costs that fringe accommodation charge. Kickstarter helped us tackle some of those dangers though the support we had was amazing and very uplifting.
Without wanting to give away too much is the wheel of misfortune and active participant in the action, and is there any particular horror genres that will be displayed on the stage?
Yes, the Wheel is a central point. Each story is presented by an Eccentric Gamemaster so mostly every time you see him the wheel makes an appearance. The Gamesmaster is actually almost inspired by Mark Hamill’s Joker in the Batman 90s animated series, there are certainly other inspirations John Carpenter is quite a prominent one. Stephen King’s IT. The show Mainly carries a B movie style throughout with some more lynch inspired pieces. One you might not quite expect in something like this is Doctor Suess. There are the Hammer Horror type Tropes (Vincent Price is one of my main acting inspirations) very subtle Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Lovecraft inspirations. And if your Familiar with Tom Hanks David Pumpkins character from Saturday night live you might even see a bit of that,
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