Werewolf – Summerhall ★★★★★

Trust is a fragile thing. Most of the time it sits quietly in the background of daily life, unnoticed and unquestioned. We trust strangers to stop at traffic lights. We trust colleagues to do their jobs. We trust the people sitting next to us in a theatre not to suddenly reveal themselves as monsters. Werewolf begins by asking what happens when that trust disappears. From the moment audiences are shepherded into Summerhall’s bunker-like playing space, the production starts tightening the screws. Inspired by the social deduction game of the same name, Binge Culture’s immersive horror-comedy places the audience inside a makeshift safehouse where reports of lycanthropic outbreaks are spreading and a group of increasingly overwhelmed wardens are attempting to maintain order. What follows is part thriller, part comedy and part social experiment. Normally, the phrase “audience participation” is enough to inspire mild dread. Too often interactive theatre feels like homework disguised as…