Picture this. It’s 8pm and you’re driving through a forest. It’s pitch black, except for the beam of your headlights cutting through the stillness. Lining one side of the single gravel road, silhouettes of inky branches reach over, like fingers beckoning you to continue to the house. Old Government House in Parramatta, Sydney. I have to shake off thoughts of ghoulish entities and murderous strangers hiding in the shadows! Maybe my imagination had run awry because we’d just entered Halloween month. Most likely though, it’s because I was on the way to see Once Upon a Grimm Night, an interactive play by Odyssey Theatre! Just the title had scary connotations.
I need not have worried, because I arrived safely and in one piece at Old Government House’s door. After we were greeted by The Narrator, it became clear that in Once Upon a Grimm Night, guests were adventurer travellers and not hapless victims, and this was going to be a live theatre experience with tons of humour, not horror.
Once Upon a Grimm Night is the brainchild of Emily McKendry, who wrote and directed the play. Emily says that her love of all things magical and fantastical inspired her to write about characters from the fairy tale realm. Once Upon Grim Night is set in the world of Everafter, and due to cosmic forces, our world and theirs have crossed for a short time, and we needed to help find a special something.
The Narrator, played with delicious relish and cheeky trickery by Jared Gerschwitz, was a chaos-loving mischievous character who reminded me of Loki with wicked laugh. He guided us in a quest to save Everafter, introducing the wayfarer travellers along the way to the other characters.
We first met Cly, AKA The Maiden, in the garden playing with a frog. Cly had an earnest innocence about her. I loved the way Phoebe Lumley Tow portrayed Cly, who was quick to deliver some very funny lines in response to audience participation . As Cly started singing, I had the impression that she was channelling Snow White, or Cinderella, or any another female stereotypical female fairytale character (which I think may have been the point).
The third character whose namesake is in the title, is Grimm Volkov, resident Everafter’s hero / heartthrob with fabulous fairytale prince-like hair. Grimm is played with a natural charm by Harlee Timms. Grimm assisted us travellers (or, “Princes” as he nicknamed us all) in the quest to find what we needed to save the realm.
Grimm led us to meet The Witch, a character who we could not help but warm to because of her sarcastic yet hilarious humour. Emily McKendry portrayed The Witch, and her spin on this character was unique. She wasn’t really an evil wicked witch as fairytale land stereotypically paints witches to be. Emily was quick to improvise answers with funny quips and respond to our questions, making us feel comfortable in her dark and dank basement. One of the highlights of the performance was held in the basement, where The Witch chose different audience members / travellers to interact with the magic potions to uncover a mystery.
The set up of Once Upon a Grimm Night is very original, with physical puzzles for us travellers to discover and solve in certain rooms. The Narrator was there to encourage us to work together and to ensure that most guests had a turn.
The costumes of all the characters added to the fairy tale feel. The cast had taken care to ensure their characters looked the part, right down to little details like the jewellery they wore, (especially The Narrator’s extended silver sharp finger ring) waist belts, corsets, billowy sleeves and black boots.
Odyssey Theatre selected the heritage-listed Old Government House as a fitting location for their performance. It was a former country residence, home to Governors and their families from 1800 to 1847. The play was performed both outdoors and indoors, allowing the audience to explore the rooms and experience a set that matched the story. The performance lasted one hour, though I would have liked more time to explore the house and its rooms.
Once Upon a Grimm Night was a unique and enjoyable experience. The small group I attended with was lively, and there was a lot of laughter throughout the evening as the audience banded together to solve puzzles. The interactive nature of this play would be an excellent opportunity for companies to bring their staff together for bonding. With the holiday season coming up, it would make a fantastic choice for an end-of-year Christmas party. Whether you go solo or with a group of friends, it is certainly worth taking a trip into Everafter where you can enjoy a hands-on potion-making activity and take part in clue-solving challenges that are perfect for clue finding sleuths.
Season run: Friday 3 October – Saturday 25 October. 3 session available at 5.30pm, 7pm and 8.30pm
Duration: One hour, no intermission
Old Government House. Parramatta Park, Pitt St entrance. Limited parking is available nearby.
Tickets: www.odysseytheatre.com.au/once-upon-a-grimm-night-parramatta
To book tickets to Once Upon a Grimm Night, please visit https://www.odysseytheatre.com.au/once-upon-a-grimm-night-parramatta
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