Binge Culture's Immersive Werewolf Makes Australian Premiere at Brisbane Festival 2026

Binge Culture, a New Zealand contemporary performance company, brings its immersive theatre production Werewolf to the Brisbane Festival 2026, playing at Brisbane Powerhouse from 23 to 26 September. The show, which had its second season at Edinburgh Fringe, is an adaptation of the social-deduction party game Mafia, also known as Werewolf. Creative Director Joel Baxendale and performer Stella Reid, along with Hannah Kelly, play wardens tasked with keeping the audience calm during a werewolf outbreak. The production draws on the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown experiences, exploring leadership, paranoia, and information distrust. Reid notes the show reflects a post-truth world and our biases, while Baxendale highlights the gamification of performance and the desire for social interaction. The horror-comedy balance is metered by audience reactions, with day and night phases resetting every 5 to 10 minutes. The end-stage configuration allows audiences to self-select their involvement. The show has evolved over more than half a decade, originally playing to 30-40 people. It incorporates improvisation, with performers using a manual of potential responses to audience interjections. The production is part of a broader trend including The Traitors, Among Us, and films like Bodies Bodies Bodies and Werewolves Within. Werewolf runs from 23 to 26 September at Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Brisbane Festival.