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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Halloween horror coming to Hastings

By Shannon Johnstone
Hawkes Bay Today·
20 Sep, 2020 12:52 AM3 mins to read

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A group of ghouls led by Ali Beal (centre) will flock to Toitoi on Halloween night ready to greet those who dare go in. Photo / Ian Cooper

A group of ghouls led by Ali Beal (centre) will flock to Toitoi on Halloween night ready to greet those who dare go in. Photo / Ian Cooper

This Halloween the Opera House at Toitoi – Hawke's Bay Arts & Events Centre will be transformed into a ghostly night of terror.

The one night of shows will give 18 groups of guests an immersive and scary 40-minute experience of parts of Toitoi not usually seen by theatre goers.

They may even encounter the Opera House's resident ghost, the Lady in Red.

Stage Fright (R16) is run by Ali Beal from Agents of CHAOS, a group of local Hawke's Bay actors who have experience in the "dark tourism" industry.

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She has been working with Toitoi to create the 40-minute interactive and immersive walk-through, which will be creepy, suspenseful, involve a little fake blood and also give some history and anecdotes.

"It's creepy and exciting characters in an amazing space who will be utilising all the aspects that come with being in a theatre.

"I would be prepared for anything from any angle all the time to then ambient space with what's happening next.

"We just try to be as creepy as possible and look at things from a really quirky, weird perspective."

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Toitoi presenter services community manager Daniel Betty said they wanted to involve the "smoke and mirrors" the theatre brings.

He said "tension and suspension" will build and the audience "will be challenging themselves through a sensory experience" the whole time they are coming through.

"For that whole 40 minutes they will be on edge but not understand why."

Betty said the show is also part of the Toitoi kaupapa to work with the local theatre and entertainment community to tell local stories and is also an opportunity to welcome the community back to the space after level 2.

"It's really about bringing people back in and showing them that we are looking after them and that we really want them to be in Toitoi once again."

He said traditionally people have sat and watched theatre but Toitoi wants to bring a fresh and contemporary approach to engaging with audiences – such as this interactive show.

Beal herself has worked in the dark tourism genre for 14 years, previously working on a CornEvil horror maze show, then as production manager and creator of the Dead Hill scare tour at Napier Prison.

The actors come from the previous shows and have experience working in the genre, so the show will not just be "boo then gone".

The Halloween theme will continue to the decked-out Cushing Foyer for audiences to enjoy a drink before or after their group's timeslot.

Betty said to get in quick as about a third of the 180 tickets available have already sold.

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