We recently went along to the launch party for this year’s GrimFest, a celebration of dark & twisted theatre in the bleeding heart of London. So we thought it the perfect opportunity to grab some time with some of the creatives involved with this year’s festival to find out about what we can expect.
Obviously, recording in the middle of a launch party does mean it was a little noisy! You’ll hear the party in full swing in the background, but that shouldn’t distract from hearing about some amazing shows coming up during October.
A full list of shows playing at the festival can be found here.
First up are Nina Atesh and Jack Robertson, the curators of the festival, to tell us a little more about it all.
A Haunted House with David Hoskin
Our next chat is with David Hoskin, whose show A Haunted House plays at the festival on 19th and 20th October.
A Haunted House is a hysterical, terrifying and surreal tale, about one hair-raising night in a haunted house. Merging mime, physical comedy and sound design this show is a must for fans of horror and comedy alike! A story of murder, jealousy, and dancing zombies, told through snappy vignettes and time loops. We meet a headless horsemen desperately searching for a victim, a vampire bat who’s hiding their true identity, and we join two hapless campers on a trip that goes horribly wrong.
The Blair Bitch Project with Finella Waddilove
Finella Waddilove‘s The Blair Bitch Project takes us deep into the woods where Fay is waiting for her friend to arrive. But something seems terribly wrong.
We chat about the show and what brings Finella to GrimFest, plus our shared love of good horror films!
The Blair Bitch Project plays at Old Red Lion Theatre from 15 to 18 October.
Almost The Birthday Party with Paul Kalburgi
Next in our GrimFest interviews is Paul Kalburgi, talking about bringing his show Almost The Birthday Party back for this year’s festival.
When a resting actor and his retired partner invite complete strangers to join a play reading group in their parlour, things take an unsettling turn. Roused in the dead of night to recall their fateful first stab at act one of Pinter’s, The Birthday Party, hilarity and absurdity unfold. But as elusive pages of the script surface and figures from the troubling tableau demand an encore, Kenny and Vern’s innocent quest for friendship spirals into a Pinteresque nightmare!
Almost The Birthday Party plays 17 to 20 October.
Experiment Human with Maya Hallpike
Our next guest during the launch party was Maya, one half of the Hooky Productions team, whose show Experiment Human we’ve been supporting since we first met them at the start of 2021.
Maya was at the lauch party to do a short solo performance taken from Experiment Human, so we were delighted to get to chat with her afterwards about the show and how their Edinburgh Fringe run went earlier this year.
Experiment Human will play for one night only on 14 October. Tickets available here.
Nine Moons with Nilgün Yusuf
Our final guest is Nilgün Yusuf, who tells us about her show Nine Moons which comes to GrimFest on 26 and 27 October.
Nine Moons is a play about hair, blood and guts, a rites-of-passage story with a supernatural twist unfolds through nine lunar cycles and explores the relationship of women to their bodies, the world and each other. Note that as this was recorded during the launch party, there is the background noise of the party all around us!
Nine Moons will play at Old Red Lion on 26 and 27 October, before transferring to Lion and Unicorn from 29 to 31 October.
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