23–26 Sep
WEREWOLF BINGE CULTURE (AOTEAROA | NZ)
International cult hit built on suspicion, survival, and uneasy laughter.
Theatre
Attention: Multiple new occurrences confirmed. Healthy citizens report to safehouses by sunset. A lycanthropy outbreak has begun. A sevenday lockdown is declared over an emergency broadcast, and you have been summoned to the local shelter, where three ill-equipped wardens keep watch over a makeshift community that must learn to work together. But as the threat outside takes shape, the atmosphere inside begins to turn. Inspired by the classic game of deception, Werewolf is a gripping blend of thriller and dark comedy, pulling you into an immersive world of suspicion, survival, and uneasy laughter. This international cult hit asks: when night falls — who do you trust?
DURATION 70min
Accessibility Auslan Interpreted & Audio Described Performance 2pm, Sat 26 Sep
CONTENT WARNING
This production contains coarse language, full blackouts, flashing lights, loud noise, and a live camera feed. Recommended for age 12+.
Program Note
Binge Culture’s shows are always games of one sort or another, so it felt natural to adapt the social deduction game Werewolf into a theatre experience. Also known as Mafia, Werewolf has a day-night structure in which you bluff like a sociopath during the day and then hope to survive the dark. It felt like a solid framework to build onto, but we also wanted to create something new. We set ourselves the goal of making a show with some proper scares, and that also allowed us to play alternative versions of ourselves — a Binge tradition.
We started building this show during 2020, while New Zealand was fully isolated. The feeling of that moment became part of the text, but since then, as we have refined Werewolf year after year, we found ourselves layering in our reflections and responses to what that time revealed about ourselves.
RALPH UPTON DRAMATURG
Creative Team Devised by
Joel Baxendale, Ralph Upton, Oliver Devlin, Karin McCracken, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Stella Reid and Hannah Kelly
Performed by
Stella Reid, Hannah Kelly and Joel Baxendale
Dramaturgy
Ralph Upton
Sound Designer
Oliver Devlin
Set and Lighting Design
Lucas Neal
Technical Stage Manager/Operator
Marshall Rankin
Voice Artist
Moana Ete
Cover Photo Credit
Mouce Young
Other Photo Credits
Lewis Ferris, Mouce Young, Vanessa Rushton
Acknowledgements Werewolf was first presented as part of Lōemis Festival in Wellington. Development of the show was supported by BATS Theatre and with funding from Creative New Zealand and the Wellington City Council. A huge mihi (thank you) to all the past collaborators who helped shape the show and in particular original devisers and performers Karin McCracken and Freya Daly Sadgrove.
And to all of Binge Culture’s incredible supporters, we couldn’t do it without you. Presented by Brisbane Festival in association with Brisbane Powerhouse.
About the Artists
Binge Culture Binge Culture is a contemporary performance company established in 2008 and based in Wellington Te Whanganui-aTara, Aotearoa New Zealand. They experiment with performance and ways to activate the audience; how to invite them into an unedited moment and give them real stakes in every experience.
@bingeculture bingeculture.co.nz
Joel Baxendale
Ralph Upton
Joel Baxendale is the Creative Director of Binge Culture. His artistic practice explores alternative performance forms within a collaborative devising process, with an ongoing interest in activating the audience, using found and online spaces, games mechanics, binaural audio and digital technology.
Ralph Upton is a founding member of Binge Culture. As the company’s dramaturg, he serves an outside eye and helps craft the audience journey, and manages the systems that underpin Binge’s shows.
Creative Director
Dramaturg
He has directed, produced and performed in shows that have toured nationally and internationally, and recently led the development of PickPath, an interactive experience design SaaS product.
He is passionate about finding new ways to invite people into a performance. He also works as an exhibition writer and experience developer, crafting visitor journeys such as Te Papa’s Te Taiao | Nature and Bug Lab. He has developed and co-wrote several audio guides for Toi | Art. He works on physical and digital visitor experiences in New Zealand and internationally.
Oliver Devlin
Hannah Kelly
Oliver Devlin is a theatre-maker and musician based in Wellington. He graduated from the NZSM Sonic Arts programme in 2016 with first class Honours, winning the John Young Award for Composition in both his last two years. He has been nominated four times for a Wellington Theatre Award for sound design, winning in 2016 and 2023.
Hannah Kelly is an actor, voice artist & teacher based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. She has recently returned from an Australian tour of the acclaimed production Yes Yes Yes (EBKM) and is currently tutoring and directing with theatre company Silver Noodle Soup & at Rātā Studios.
Sound Designer
In 2019 he created sound and music for a Voyager-nominated RNZ podcast series Killjoy, and worked with Te Papa on audio guides for Terracotta Warriors, Toi Arts and Surrealist Art exhibitions. Oli also writes and produces songs for his band Hans Pucket.
Performer
Hannah is well-versed in immersive, interactive performance and working with audiences. Other recent works include the Destination Mars as part of the 2022 Aotearoa Festival and then solo iteration Mission Control Mars both directed by Kip Chapman, Wednesday to Come (dir. Erina Daniels; Circa Theatre), and The Surprise Party (dir. Conrad Newport; Circa Theatre).
Stella Reid
Lucas Neal
Stella Reid is a theatre and filmmaker and graduate of Toi Whakaari & VUW with a Masters in Theatre Arts (Directing). She is the winner of a Scotsman Fringe First, a three-time Best Director nominee at the Wellington Theatre Awards (winning in 2025), and a Stage UK Acting Excellence.
Lucas Neal is a theatre designer and educator based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. He has worked across New Zealand and Australia as a set designer and lighting designer. Lucas studied theatre at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington completing his masters in 2018, and subsequently joined the programme as the Lecturer of Scenography in 2023.
Performer
She was a 2019 nominee for Wellingtonian of the Year (Arts). Her films have screened at NZIFF, Clipped, MWIFF, and Show Me Shorts — where she was nominated for Best Music Video in 2022. Her theatre has toured Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Marshall Rankin
Technical Stage Manager/ Operator Marshall Rankin is a Wellington based theatre practitioner with over a decade of experience in professional theatre. He holds Bachelors Degree of Performing Arts Management from Toi Whakaari and a Masters Degree with Distinction in Theatre Script Writing from The Institute of Modern Letters. He has a broad skill base across every facet of the production of live theatre, competent in the areas of lighting, sound, projection, producing, stage management, health & safety management, script writing, improv and performance.
Set and Lighting Design
Lucas is the recipient of two Wellington Theatre Awards, Most Promising Newcomer Award in 2017 and Set Designer of the Year in 2022 for Skin Tight.
Working Out Werewolf
Written by Ralph Upton
Werewolf on the Radio
An interview with Joel and Stella
brisbanefestival.com.au