Infrasound frequency, unsolved mysteries, paranoia and raising the profile of Cumbrian theatre – director Lexie Ward tells us why she’s so excited about bringing acclaimed all-female thriller We Know Now Snowmen Exist to The Space this week. Read her interview, then book your tickets!
The spine-tingling thriller, which is written by Michael Spencer and runs from 19 to 23 March at The Space, is inspired by the unsolved mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident of 1959. There, nine ski-hikers died in the Ural Mountains in still-unexplained circumstances. Six of the party perished from hypothermia, having fled their tent in differing states of undress. Three received injuries deemed unlikely to have been caused by a human. Their bodies were found over the space of four months; some up trees, some missing parts of their face…
Set in the modern day, a group of women set out on a charity hike… and never return. What really awaits the girls outside the relative safety of their tent – and more importantly, do they really know who’s inside it? Why was the tent cut open? Why were the bodies partially dressed in each other’s’ clothing? And what was meant by the group’s chilling final journal entry; ‘We know now that snowmen exist’.
We Know Now Snowmen Exist was a smash hit at the Carlisle Fringe Festival in 2018, winning the Creative Spark Commission for New Theatre in a sold out five-star run. It is now a finalist for the prestigious Cumbria Culture Awards Live Production of the Year.
Lexie Ward
Director Lexie Ward won the NODA Best Director Award in 2015 for her production of Tom, Dick and Harry. She was also Assistant Director for Sense and Sensibility at Theatre by the Lake in 2018. Writer Michael Spencer has had pieces performed at Southwark Playhouse and The Other Palace, as well as writing for radio and having his play Unholy Congregation toured.
The all-female cast of We Know Now Snowmen Exist includes Rowan Kikke (Lisa), Rebekah Holly Neilson (Rachael), Vanessa Sedgwick (Chloe), Chloe Sturrock (Hayley), and Naomi Webster (Zoe). In keeping with the Cumbrian tradition of Highly Suspect, all the actors are either Cumbrian-born or trained in England’s northernmost county.
Lexie Ward interview
When did you first come across the story of the Dyatlov Pass incident?
It was first introduced to Michael Spencer (writer of the play) by Executive Producer, Adam Morley, as a concept he thought could be adapted for a really interesting theatre show. When I came on board I was immediately intrigued by the urban legend.
What caught your imagination about the story?
It was the question of why they cut their way out of the tent. There was an entrance, but they were in such a state or hurry to leave the tent that they thought time was so imperative that they had to cut their way out. The question of what could have precipitated that and what led them to that decision is so interesting as it’s what set in motion the ensuing events in the snow.
Do you have your own theory about what happened?
There’s a new-ish theory that was proposed by writer Donnie Eichar in his 2013 book Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, surrounding Infrasound Frequency which I think is really interesting. The theory is that the combination of high winds and the curvature of the mountains surrounding the campsite had produced an infrasound frequency, a sound too low for human ears to register. They can induce a state of panic in human beings. According to this theory, the panicked hikers cut their way out of the tent and fled, but by the time the group was far enough away to regain their senses they were too far away to make their way back to safety and succumbed to hypothermia. There’s a lot of science in this, but the idea of this unexplainable panicking settling on them is certainly a creepy one!
But We Know Now Snowmen Exist doesn’t attempt to provide a definitive answer to the puzzle – instead using the mystery as a backdrop to an intense psychological horror and asking not if the characters’ know what’s outside the tent; but if they really know who’s inside it?
Why did you and Michael think it would make a great starting point for a play?
It’s such a juicy mystery that it’s impossible to hear the tale and not begin speculating on what may have happened on the original expedition. Taking the key details and transposing the action to the modern day meant we could focus on the characters rather than getting wrapped up in the intricacies of Cold-War era paranoia.
Highly Suspect started out creating murder mystery events. Why did you choose to move to create original theatre productions, and how different is it?
It was simply a case of coming home to roost. Michael was writing plays and I was directing before we joined forces to start killing people for a living.
The Murder Mysteries are so much fun – they’re simultaneously hilarious and larger than life, whilst retaining the beating heart of a true whodunnit. There’s no arbitrary dice roll deciding our killers, but a clear (if convoluted!) trail of evidence leading to the guilty party. We’ve created over 30 original mysteries including the death of Shakespearean Scholar Professor Oliver Worldsastage in ‘Et Tu Shakespeare?’ to the board game spoof ‘Cluedunnit’ with such suspects as Colonel Helman Mayo and Professor Mario Plumber. They’re heavily interactive experiences and as much fun to perform as they are to create!
Our mysteries are a great deal ‘sillier’ than our theatre shows. They’re heavily interactive experiences with as much emphasis on the audience playing detective as on our characters committing the crimes. The eager sleuths are encouraged to form teams and are given access to evidence packs including all manner of cryptic clues, codes and puzzles, all of which must be solved to catch the killer, and the event culminates with an opportunity for each team to cross examine and interrogate every suspect before making their final deductions. In We Know Now Snowmen Exist we don’t insist the audience solve the mystery before they watch it play to its grim conclusion…
The show has already been a big success in Cumbria. Has anything changed since the original run and how are you feeling about bringing it to London?
We’re incredibly excited to be bringing the show to London, and to be representing and promoting Cumbrian theatre. One of the things I am really passionate about in terms of this industry, is working with and promoting Cumbrian born/based/trained talent as much as possible, and I am proud that everyone involved in this London transfer fits that criteria. We are a region that is producing highly innovative, engaging and creative work, but it doesn’t get shouted about as much as it should on a national platform. So being part of that conversation is incredibly important to us. The top of the show has been reworked for this next iteration, but it is largely the same show that had such a great reaction in Cumbria.
How do you feel about staging the production at The Space?
The team at The Space – Adam, Grace and Keri – have been so supportive of us bringing this show to their venue, I’m so excited. Being a Cumbrian company we didn’t necessarily have the connections or known name factor in the capital, but they believed in the show and the script and have been incredibly helpful when it comes to developing the marketing and working out some of the tech practicalities of the show. The Space is a beautiful venue with a lot of history behind it and we are so looking forward to being based there for the week.
What can audiences expect from a trip to see We Know Now Snowmen Exist?
Thrills, spills, Netflix and chills, and a snowman called Keith (or is it Aled?). One review from the Carlisle run said the reviewer jumped out of their seat at one point, so be warned that’s a possibility too.
