Horror in real time

Viewers are in for a night out in unknown realms when The Dead Twin opens next week at Footscray.

The Dead Twin is the latest work by accomplished playwright Chi Vu, and features on Footscray Community Arts Centre’s line-up from August 13.

The first scene opens in a secret location, revealed by email when tickets are booked. The audience will then walk between scenes as the play progresses.

When main character Steve meets Lola, he develops the ability to contact his long-dead twin, who died during war.

Steve’s parents made a pact not to talk about the twin, but both of them dream of encountering him again.

Vu said The Dead Twin revives the horror genre in an immersive, cyclical, site-specific performance.

“When I was younger, I was terrified of horror. I would never go see them,” she said. “Friends dragged me to a horror film one day and it wasn’t what I expected, and I was hooked.

“The horror genre is a good way to talk about horrible things without it being too real. [This] is a metaphor for what twins might go through when they’ve experienced the loss of their sibling. That pain doesn’t actually go away.”

The cast comprises artists and performers Deborah Leiser-Moore, Jacques Soddell, Naomi Ota, Davina Wright, Harry Tseng and Daniel Han.

Details: www.footscrayarts.com