We sat down with Highly Suspect to discuss their new show, We Now Know Snowmen Exist. Running until the 23rd of March, you can find out more and book tickets here.
Describe We Known Now Snowmen Exist in three words.
Mysterious, Compelling and Chilling.
(Or Snowmen Do Exist!)
We Know Now Snowmen Exist is based off the mysterious Dyatlov Pass murders. Why did you chose to focus on this unsolved mystery?
It was first introduced to Michael Spencer (writer of the play) by Executive Producer Adam Morley, as a concept he thought could be adapted for a really interesting theatre show. There are so many creepy specific details and questions surrounding it that (why did they cut their way out of their tent? Why did they swap clothes?), that when I came onboard I was immediately intrigued by the urban legend and the fact that it is still unsolved to this day.
It’s giving us the creeps in the office! What do you think happened?
There’s a new-ish theory that was proposed by writer Donnie Eichar in his 2013 book “Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident,’ surrounding Infrasound Frequency which I think is really interesting. The theory is that the combination of high winds and the curvature of the mountains surrounding the campsite had produced an infrasound frequency, a sound too low for human ears to register. They can induce a state of panic in human beings. According to this theory, the panicked hikers cut their way out of the tent and fled, but by the time the group was far enough away to regain their senses they were too far away to make their way back to safety and succumbed to hypothermia. There’s a lot of science in this, but the idea of this unexplainable panicking settling on them is certainly a creepy one!
You’ve taken this mystery and put it in a modern setting – why did you decide to this?
It’s a deliciously juicy mystery but we wanted the focus to be on the characters rather than the background of potential cold-war angst. Frightening things happening far away somehow makes them feel safer. By bringing the setting far closer to home and bang up to date the chills are less easy to dismiss…
How did Highly Suspect get together?
Michael Spencer (playwright and author of WE KNOW NOW SNOWMEN EXIST) and myself met 11 years ago in Carlisle whilst I was in training at Cumbria Institute of the Arts. We immediately hit it off over a love of comedic plays, and have worked together on various shows ever since. We formalised that with the creation of Highly Suspect when Michael received a commission to write a bespoke murder mystery for Tullie House Museum in Carlisle, off the back of writing one for my birthday with our friends. The company developed from that first performance when the audience at that first mystery asked us when we were coming back to do our next, so we had fans before we even had a company name! Over the last 5 years we’ve created over 30 original mysteries that we’ve performed all over the country at some amazing venues such as Durham, Cathedral, The National Centre for the Written Word and Blackpool WInter Gardens. Last year we created a bespoke Halloween event for Lowther Castle in Cumbria, which involved a spooky storyline for 30 actors and an audience of 1300 – that was a pretty epic highlight of 2018!
You also host popular performance mysteries and self-performed mysteries, what inspired the transition into writing and producing plays as well?
It was simply a case of coming home to roost! Michael was writing plays and I was directing before we joined forces to start killing people for a living.
The Murder Mysteries are so much fun – they’re simultaneously hilarious and larger than life, whilst retaining the beating heart of a true whodunnit. There’s no arbitrary dice roll deciding our killers, but a clear (if convoluted!) trail of evidence leading to the guilty party. We’ve created over thirty original mysteries including the death of Shakespearean Scholar Professor Oliver Worldsastage in ‘Et Tu Shakespeare?’ to the board game spoof ‘Cluedunnit’ with such suspects as Colonel Helman Mayo and Professor Mario Plumber. They’re heavily interactive experiences and as much fun to perform as they are to create!
The show is filled with suspense, what advice would you offer for audiences coming in? Wrap up warm?!
Haha! Hopefully we don’t create THAT chilling an atmosphere, but I would say be prepared to suspend your rational logical thoughts and consider all possibilities of what could be out on that mountainside…. and try not to be too spooked by our snowman Keith!
What’s next for Highly Suspect?
We’re off performing our murder mysteries across the country in the short term, before heading to Edinburgh Fringe in August where you can catch up performing two mysteries on alternate dates at Bar Bados in Cowgate 5.30-6.30 as part of the PBH Free Fringe. We’ll also be exploring a couple of ideas we’ve had for our next theatre show, mainly revolving around creating a more traditional comedy (we are huge fans of Mischief Theatre!) so watch this space…!