When friends invited me to the dead of night dance a theatrical performance in the woods during Halloween I will be honest I wasn't keen on the idea. The idea of being in the woods in the pitch black during the spookiest weekend of the year seemed a bit more for the brave, but with a group of my closest friends we headed up to Tehidy woods. The night could not have been any more theatrical with pouring rain and gale force winds.
As we joined the queue in the corner of the field with rain lashing at us from behind we waited with a sort of nervous anticipation of what was ahead of us. As groups of people entered the woods we were held back as the group in front descended into the dark woods lit up slightly by a string of lights.
It was then our turn to enter the woodland footpath and deeper into the woods, we followed the string of lights under branches, around trees and were greeted by large sheets of plastic sheeting blowing in the wind. Behind the sheeting was our first act and that of a crazed doctor in the woods. After a humorous performances we continued through the woods to he next act. Lit by burning fires we were greeted by another set up where we were invited to celebrate those that had passed and went through a curtain doorway into a graveyard area full of crosses and ghosts in the trees.
After this we were greeted by a silent dance by a lady in red in the woods and were then led on our way through the trees and over to a scene of a bride deep in the woods. With a few jumpy moments by the arrival of the groom and the use of buckets of fire and hiding behind trees made this scene slightly more creepy.
As we proceeded through the woods we were then greeted by cheeky and funny witches in the trees and were even given sweets to eat along the way.
The next act was the last and to be honest was the best, as you walked along the path towards the main tent for the final show you were pounced upon by a raged man, on all fours grunting and growling, jumping out of the woods, moving through us whilst walking and pouncing out on us, rolling through the sodden ground nothing interfered with this mans' performance.
After we had witnessed all the individual performances in the woods we arrived at the main tent, the setting for the final show. We were able to shelter under the tent's canopy from the pouring rain as well as enjoy a well deserved glass of wine.
The show then unravelled the stories of all the acts in the woods, through songs, dancing and narrated stories. We learnt why the people in the woods were acting in the way that they did and completed the evening,
At the end of the performance there was even the opportunity to party with the crew, with a perfect selection of Halloween themed songs another glass of wine and even games and face painting were to be enjoyed.
With the wind and rain easing we walked back through the woods to the car park and were free from the dancing dead.
I've not been to any of the rogue theatre performances before but would happily go again as it's certainly a different type of night out and would recommend that if your in Cornwall you try and catch one of their shows. Considering the weather this did not dampen the actors performance as they were soaking wet, muddy and rolling around on the ground all for our enjoyment. The actors truly gave 100%
You can find out more information about the rogue theatre on their website here http://www.roguetheatre.co.uk/the-dead-of-night-dance/ to catch upcoming shows and events throughout the year.
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