T’was the night of Scary Goats Theatre’s A Twist Of Fate Christmas special. All through the Motley Bauhaus cellar, such a merry and full audience was stirring that you wouldn’t have guessed that the company only kicked into gear roughly a year ago. Having seen a past Twist Of Fate season in May, I understood the format and was keen to see more: a series of four short plays inspired by The Twilight Zone and centred around a devastating twist. After only half a year, I was delighted to see that the company has further honed a unique brand of camp, engrossing indie horror with a pool of talented writers and actors.
The night opened with Emily Morey’s play ‘Naughty Nicholas’, in which a little boy is threatened with ‘no Christmas’ after setting fire to the family Christmas tree. He decides to build his own robotic Santa to wreak vengeance on those written on his personal naughty list. The physical acting from all cast members, from the ‘children’ to the janky mechanical Santa, was delightful. While some of the fighting between the main character and his sister felt a bit rushed, it wasn’t enough to detract from the story. I found myself wondering if the boy’s character was too unsympathetic, but luckily, it turned out his abominable Santa had similar concerns…
The second play, ‘Prisoners of the Season’ (written by Lore Burns) opens on four soldiers tied up by the wrists and neck with no memory of who or where they are. It was easy to guess the twist, but the fun came from watching the characters slowly figure it out. Once again, the physical acting was a highlight, and the ensemble’s sense of comedic timing was immaculate. Some of the actors had false moustaches that came loose, but the way the performers leant into and improvised around that gaffe was downright impressive and had the audience on their side in a heartbeat.
‘Office Party’ by Richard Mealey takes place at a Christmas celebration in an office that just so happens to be run by the offspring of the Christmas demon Krampus. As a holiday treat, he tempts Dylan, the office dogsbody, to punish a coworker who almost definitely killed someone for fun. This play was my favourite in terms of its writing and direction. It signalled a darker turn as we saw commentary on toxic masculinity and what is deemed as acceptable in corporate environments. The context and stakes were revealed in a gradual and satisfying way, there’s some fun puppeteering when ‘Krampus’ appears in the story, and the set and sound design were used very effectively to create a creepy build to an eerie ending that left me wanting more.
The final play, ‘Nineteen Eighty Clause’, was directed and written by Chloe Towan, who also emcees the Twist Of Fate series. A bunch of Christmas elves work tirelessly yet happily in Santa’s factory until one worker, Jangles, becomes so sleep-deprived that she starts hallucinating. This leads her to discover – with the help of a rogue elf named Sparky – that everyone in the workshop has been brainwashed into working for Santa, who turns out to be a cartoonishly cruel gangster. The corporate satire here is much more pointed and turned on the audience as we are made to question our own consumption habits around the holiday season. The romantic chemistry between Sparky and Jangles felt a bit contrived, but as the play itself points out with a fakeout ending: it’s Christmas, and a bit of positivity is sometimes needed to get us through the dark times. Overall, the social commentary is sharp while still having an optimistic message.
After five seasons of A Twist Of Fate and two Melbourne Fringe shows this year, this Christmas edition of Scary Goats’ most popular series felt like a well-deserved victory lap. Chloe Towan and her collaborators showed how they have earned their stripes by consistently creating tongue-in-cheek horror that pushes the constraints of indie theatre spaces without bursting the envelope. I cannot wait to see what they do next year, and I’ll certainly be looking forward to more than a few twists in their shows.
To book tickets to A Twist Of Fate, please visit https://www.eventfinda.com.au/2025/a-twist-of-fate-christmas-special/melbourne/carlton.
