We caught up with Paul Flannery, aka Tregard from Knightmare Live to talk about the smash hit stage version of the legendary TV show.
CM: Thanks for joining us today, first of all for people who have never heard of the original TV show Knightmare (must of been living under a rock!), how would you explain it?
PF: Knightmare is an interactive fantasy game show (Of sorts). One player is guided by 3 others around a vast dungeon environment solving puzzles, meeting characters and defeating monsters. The caveat being that the player is blinded by a helmet. This makes the game more challenging and allows for the show to achieve their special effects in a chroma key/green screen environment.
CM: How hard was it to bring the iconic TV show to the stage?
PF: Bringing the show to the stage involved a serious amount of work! The logistics of creating a set that can represent a myriad of rooms alone was quite a challenge.
CM: The show has had considerable critical success, including a five star review from our sister site at cmoorin.co.uk, was this a great relief for you after the tremendous amount of work that has gone into the show?
PF: We have to use the rules and physics of theatre and live performance to our advantage. So, for example, we can’t have the floor fall away (like in the original) but we can improvise dialogue and comment in real time how the game is shaping up. Also I think the massive props help.
CM: You’ve just announced that you will be returning to the Edinburgh Festival for your second year there, are you excited?
PF: I think it’s important that you believe in the show you’re in and give your best regardless of public opinion but yes; getting 4 & 5 star reviews feels great!
CM: Can people expect a few changes in “Knightmare Live – Level 2” from what they may of seen in the current show?
PF: The whole team is incredibly excited about this year’s Edinburgh; we’ll be in a bigger space (Pleasance Forth 17:30) and we have a whole host of new rooms, characters, puzzles and monsters to show off. The show is definitely bigger and more perilous this year, hence the name “Level 2”.
CM: In each show you get two guest comedians to guide a member of the public through the dungeon, who has been the funniest to have on?
PF: Most if not all of the guests who’ve come on have been amazing. Some of the best ones now work on the show; Paul McGarrity, Matthew Highton and Jessica Fostekew.
CM: Who would you love to guide the dungeoneer who has not yet risen to the challenge?
PF: I guess the ultimate geek team for Knightmare Live would be Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright but it’s not very likely to be honest.
CM: As well as taking the show to the Edinburgh festival, you also take it on the road including an upcoming date at the Theatre Royal in Margate on the 14th June, does the show have a different feel from place to place?
PF: There is something special about the show when it’s in a grand looking theatre. So please come and see us at the Royal in Margate, June 14th (We’ll be done way before the England game I promise).
CM: What has been the funniest story from doing the show so far?
PF: Personally I find Olgarth the wall demon the funniest thing; his eyes move independently from each other and Tom Bell is hilarious. I corpse (laugh) during that scene more often than not.
CM: Thanks for your time and see you in Margate and Edinburgh!
You can buy tickets for Knightmare Live! at Margate Theatre Royal on the 14th June 2014 here and for tickets for the Edinburgh 2014 run at the Pleasance Courtyard here.
