Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Werewolf
Binge Culture
Genre: Comedy, Dark Comedy, Horror, Immersive, Interactive
Venue: Summerhall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Joel Baxendale, Hannah Kelly, and Stella Reid all work as real shapeshifters, morphing effortlessly between side-splitting comedy and lycanthropic horror.
Review
Watch out! There’s werewolves about! At least, that stands true for Binge Culture’s hour-long caper, Werewolf, on at Summerhall throughout this August. An immersive horror comedy loosely based on the game of the same name, the Kiwi collective invites you to join them in the relative safety of Safehouse 656, where you will be counted, calmed, and kept protected from the horrors that lie outside your door.
A fully immersive experience, the silliness begins from the get go, as each seat in TechCube 0 contains an individual notecard, which can’t be swapped or shared with anyone else around you. You see, this card contains information about your role in the show – you might be privy to certain information, know a specific frequency, or have a darker secret at play… If you’re familiar with the game or any of its various spin offs, (Traitors, anyone?), you might have some idea of what to expect. But honestly, the less you know about this specific plot, the better – just enjoy the fun when it happens!
Joel Baxendale, Hannah Kelly, and Stella Reid, the trio behind this specific run of performances, knock it out of the park with their comedy chops. Their wardens hit a run of pitch perfect notes, and they each work as real shapeshifters, morphing effortlessly between side-splitting comedy and lycanthropic horror. Likewise, the sound design by Oliver Devlin and set and lighting design by Lucas Neal is also well worth a mention, given how effectively their work goes into conjuring the moments of true horror within the hour.
Immersive shows are especially tricky to pull off, given that you have to rely on the audience of that specific night to roll with the punches. A less willing audience, a less cohesive performance, an element that remains especially true for Werewolf, a show with so many moving parts. Even despite several moments where it was clear that the actors were waiting for some audience participation, they worked well to adapt and improvise when needed, and finished with a show well worth shouting about.
With spooks and scares around every corner, alongside some well placed hilarity, this is very much What We Do in the Shadows meets The Thing – an ideal balance with just the right level of audience participation to leave everyone gasping for more when they take their final bows.
