Old houses, while beautiful, can come with some downsides – leaky plumbing, creaky floors and, occasionally, the spirits of those who inhabited them before. Organisers of The Haunting say the unsettled spirits of Tuggeranong Homestead need to be laid to rest and are calling on Canberrans to help them next weekend, 1-3 September.

Not your average theatre show, productions by Dark Stories take the audience away from seated chairs and place them in the centre of the story. There is no sitting in this production; rather, audiences will be moving around trying to uncover secrets.

“The people who find sitting down watching a theatre show for one and a half to two hours, they find that a little bit difficult for them, this is what I sometimes refer to as gateway theatre,” says Emily McKendry, theatre production manager of Dark Stories.

In The Haunting, an eccentric priest has been sent to exorcise the homestead and needs some help to discover who the spirits are, why they are there, and what has made them so angry. As the action unfolds or jumps out around them, the audience has their own role to play to help solve the mystery.

“As they walk through the house, they trigger memories of the past, so the ghosts come to life. Seeing the different things that happen, the audience needs to put the pieces together to solve the puzzle so they can successfully solve the mystery and exorcise the house,” says Ms McKendry.

Also the writer, director and a cast member, Ms McKendry has created an entire immersive experience that falls between the lines of theatre and escape room.  As the audience of a maximum of 25 people makes their way through the dwelling, they will have to make decisions that could alter how the production plays out.

“I love how audiences might not realise that they’ve seen a different version of the show than somebody else has. Then when they talk to each other, it’s like ‘Hang on, that wasn’t the show that I saw’.”

A lover of mystery and Agatha Christie, Ms McKendry wrote The Haunting, which was her first play, in 2020, and has another one already produced and one in the works. She loves to see the audience try and piece the work together.

“I love that when we do this kind of theatre and people are actually involved, they get to tell the story too. You see how much they enjoy it, and you see how much their faces light up when they solve something or they’ve got theories,” she smiles.

Debuting in Sydney just before the pandemic lockdowns, The Haunting can be readily adapted for different historic venues. Tuggeranong Homestead was an easy decision, offering a perfect location and an enthusiastic team.

The cast of four, which includes two Canberra performers, takes pride in their ability to get a little fright out of their audiences. Do you have what it takes to solve the mystery?

Uncover the mystery, if you dare, in The Haunting at Tuggeranong Homestead, 1-3 September; darkstories.com.au

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