The Family

Rogue Theatre invites you to an evening of stories, dark secrets, music and intrigue.

An eccentric family live in an isolated mansion deep in the forest. As the evening erupts into a revelation of astonishing stories and secrets the party atmosphere is disturbed by a haunting, and a figure in the shadows. For the Family is this their greatest fear? – Has truth finally come to dinner?

With tales of piracy, voodoo and lost fame woven together with gothic poetry The Family promises a world of escape which mixes powerful narrative, vibrant spectacle, fantasy, the supernatural, horror and cabaret.

Introducing Rogue Theatre’s newest creation The Thieves; a theatre band which combines the passion and euphoria of gypsy music and the melancholy and nostalgia of tango with cabaret, bump and grind, jazz and blues.With poetry and text by Anna Maria Murphy, live music, pathos, physical performance and a feast of entertainment… Come join us.

Wales Millenium Centre

4 Star Review Buzz Magazine

Wickedly funny and crackling with mordant energy, Rogue Theatre‘s The Family slopes into The Weston Studio in a flash of magnesium and a puff of smoke. Like December’s brilliant Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, it blends elements of burlesque and cabaret, but is most obviously indebted to Hammer Horror – and this is one show that really wears its influences on its sleeve.

It is clear that something is amiss from the start: this ‘family’ consists of a brother and sister, daughter-in-law and father. Confined to a vast, haunted mansion, they live comfortably and aristocratically, but their lives are monotonous and repetitive, and it appears that they are also underwritten by a dark secret. The plot concerns the gradual exposition of this murky past, as the fabric that holds the family together unravels.

The characters are a real mélange of Hammer Horror favourites: we have Vincent (Ollie Oakenshield), the Rasputin-esque mad scientist; Millie (Wendy Taylor), the blonde bombshell and failed burlesque performer; Rhoda (Angelina Boscarelli), the eccentric aristocrat; and Sally (Becky Bordeaux), the laconic maid, who has an endearing lisp and a mischievous streak. Rhoda is particularly good. Riding crop in one hand, goblet of wine in the other, she trots around the stage looking for ways to ease the interminable boredom of life in the mansion. Shrill and frightfully made up, her high-pitched titter is infectious.

The references to Hammer Horror come thick and fast. There is a shadowy, backlit laboratory scene; a Frankenstein inspired plot; even an Addams Family-esque rapier duel. It’s all channeled with shameless glee and enthusiasm. The Family‘s poignant moments are handled with similar skill, and are creepy and affecting without being drawn-out and sentimental. This play is no kitten: rapacious and thrilling, it bristles with malice.”

The Family by Rogue Theatre