Bête Noire Productions presents
FATHER OF LIES
A true crime thriller live on stage
At VAULT Festival
From Wednesday 28 February to Sunday 4 March 2018
After sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and the London Horror Festival, true crime thriller Father of Lies returns to London for six performances only, playing at VAULT Festival from Wednesday 28 February to Sunday 4 March 2018.
Using photographs, letters and police reports uncovered during a year of research and investigation, Father of Lies tells for the first time the chilling true story of a mysterious and unsolved murder in West Germany, 1973. Part documentary and part performance, Making a Murderer meets Rosemary’s Baby in this sinister story of a haunted priest, a jealous widower and a satanic cult, which poses the question; is what you believe more important than what is actually real?
Father of Lies is written and performed by Sasha Roberts and Tom Worsley, who met at Bristol University in 2004 and bonded over a shared love of horror films and literature. Using facts and evidence uncovered by meticulous research, they retell this extraordinary story through a mixture of presentation and performance, acting as narrators, documentarians and performers to bring to life their shocking discoveries, and draw the audience into this dark, chilling history.
Tom Worsley said: “Horror is an underrepresented genre in theatre, which is a shame as horror suits intimate, atmospheric, often dark, communal environments, where the audience’s imagination is free to run wild. We’re thrilled to now bring the show to VAULT Festival and their enormous, cellar-like Cavern venue; the perfect space for this twisting, sinister tale.”
Sasha Roberts added: “The format is influenced by true crime documentaries such as The Jinx and Making a Murderer, which have been enormously popular in recent years. The public is drawn to true crime as, like horror movies, they trigger the most basic and powerful emotion in all of us – fear. We want audiences to be able to experience this thrill live, following our investigation to see if they can solve the case.”
The story uncovered by Father of Lies also questions the power of belief, and how we shape our own realities. Director Stephen Sobal said: “This story suggests that whether something is real or not doesn’t matter – what matters is whether you believe it’s real. Whether God exists is irrelevant for example, as long as people believe in him. This is an interesting idea to explore in the ‘post-truth’ world of Brexit, Trump and fake news, where truth is dictated not by facts but by what people believe.”
Father of Lies is written and performed by Tom Worsley and Sasha Roberts, and directed by Stephen Sobal. It is produced by Bête Noire Productions.
Twitter: @TheAlderKing
LISTINGS
Venue: VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake St, Waterloo, London SE1 7NN
Dates: Wednesday 28 February – Sunday 4 March 2018
Press Night: Wednesday 28 February, 7.30pm
Performances: 7.30pm (2.45pm Saturday matinee)
Tickets: £9.50
Box Office: www.vaultfestival.com/whats-on/father-of-lies
Duration: 1 hour