Today we are speaking to Matt Pinches about an exciting show that is coming to Hogs Back Brewery from 24th October. The Guildford Shakespeare Company bring a brand new immersive murder mystery show to the stage A Brew To A Kill. It runs between the 24th October to the 15th November and today we go behind the scenes of the show.
Hello! Tell us about yourself ?
I’m Matt, one of the two co-founders of Guildford Shakespeare Company, which we formed in 2006 and I’ve been an actor almost 30 years.
Tell us a bit about the show
This is the third in our series of interactive Murder Mysteries, following one on a real Boeing 747 and the last one at the REAL Button House, aka West Horsley Place. This time we’re at the award-winning Hogs Back Brewery, for a 1950s-set whodunnit.
After a turbulent few years, the brewery is set to celebrate the opening its refurbished Tap Room and a brand-new brew… but before the ribbon is cut a chilling discovery is made and it is soon clear that trouble is brewing.
Taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses cycle, this immersive show focuses on the machinations and betrayals of the Gloucester brewing family: siblings Edwina, George and Richard. Into the mix are thrown local mob boss Tommy Tyrell, and a takeover bid from rival brewery Priory Ales.
What can you tell us about the stage set?
What’s wonderful about producing site responsive work is that your venue gives you so much more than a conventional theatre. So instead of building a tradition set, the venue IS the set – and it’s real. Audiences will explore the whole brewery site including the Hop Hanger, Brew House, Dutch Barn (and another secret location to be revealed) as they discover clues and interrogate the suspects.
Tell us a little bit about the rest of the cast?
We’ve got a fabulous cast on this who have all worked for GSC many times, so our regular audiences I am sure will recognise one or two of them. They’re great improvisers and really funny. Their credits include the RSC, Shakespeare’s Globe, and the West End. I can’t wait to start working with them.
What is the most challenging thing about doing the show?
One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the audience feel like that CAN work it out but at the same time you don’t want it to be so obvious that there’s no game to play.
So it’s been a lot of tight script work in the writing process with writer Eli Murton, double checking everyone’s motives and whereabouts, ensuring the evidence room has enough content to implicate all suspects. We’ve not started rehearsals yet, but I am expecting a lot more nuance will be found during this.
The other challenge is timing: with all promenade and interactive shows we have a very clear schedule when it comes to moving audiences around spaces, so in rehearsals it’s about ensuring we don’t get creatively carried away!
Finally in three words why should people come to your show?
Unique – Fun – Immersive
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