Jimmy Johnson, left, and Dr Dorian Deathly (Jamie McKeller) in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Pictures: Emma Warley/Emma &Rich
BETWEEN 1986 and 1993, a series of often violent hauntings rocked the East Riding village of Wetwang. The cases went cold and all the records were lost…until now!
Join York ghost walk guide Dr Dorian Deathly as the Neon Crypt and the Deathly Dark Tours team digs into the history and horrors of these reawaken cases at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from tonight to Saturday in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live. “This show is not for the faint of heart,” he forewarns.
Here Dorian (alias York actor Jamie McKeller) discusses the Wetwang hauntings, the podcast and live show, Neon Crypt, Deathly Dark ghost walks and future plans with CharlesHutchPress.
How did you learn of the Wetwang Hauntings?
“There are two answers to this. The first is the one that’s in the podcast and live show, that we were brought an old shoebox filled with tapes by a man who only wants to be known as Mr Whispers.
“Dorian listened to the tapes, hours and hours of paranormal investigations carried out by the long-since-vanished Mayor Dick Nightly. We didn’t know what to do with the tapes at first, and then we realised that we are men in our 30s and 40s with microphones and access to fast internet. Making a podcast was the only logical choice; turning it into a staged show was the second.
“The second answer is that Jamie (the other guy) was having afternoon tea with a friend in Wetwang, and he got chatting to someone in the tea room about my time spent telling ghost stories on the streets of York.
“They told me that all the staff felt that the tea room was haunted and that was that. My brain got excited and before long I was pitching the show to my co-writers on the project, Ben Rosenfield and Jimmy Johnson.”
Laura McKeller (Dede Deathly) and Michael Cornell (Michael Nightly/Mayor Nick Nightly) in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
Who or what is Neon Crypt?
“Neon Crypt are at the core a group of four actors and writers. Myself, my wife Laura McKeller, [York Mix presenter] Laura Castle and Michael Cornell. Laura Castle can’t be with us for this one; she’s very in demand but is very much missed and will be back for the next one!
“This is our third show. A Night Of Face Melting Horror was the first, then earlier this year we performed Le Navet Bete’s Dracula: The Bloody Truth. The Wetwang Hauntings is our first full-length, original play and we have two more planned for next year. In the future we’re looking to start touring one of these shows.”
Here is what AI says of the Wetwang Hauntings: “The ‘Wetwang Hauntings’ refers to a series of violent and unsettling paranormal events that reportedly took place in the Yorkshire village of Wetwang between 1986 and 1993.
“These events are the subject of a modern horror-themed podcast and live show that investigates the history and folklore surrounding the cases. While the historical ‘hauntings’ are steeped in local legend, the area is also famous for a significant archaeological find of an Iron Age chariot burial from around the 3rd or 4th century BC.“
What would you like to add to that summary?
“I’m not sure I should argue or disagree with AI; it’s a terrifying thing. Our thoughts on it are presented in the show this week.”
Do you have any theories on why the cases went cold? How come all the records were lost? Deliberately?
“As far as we can tell, something terrible happened to Mayor Nightly. We know that he was last seen in 1998, so we don’t know why the tapes have only surfaced now and we have no idea where they were kept. It’s all very strange, but I’m sure that it will all be fine. I think.”
Jimmy Johnson, left, Ben Rosenfield and Dr Dorian Deathly in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
What has been the reaction to your podcasts?
“Just wonderful. We’ve had comparisons to The League Of Gentlemen, early Doctor Who, Uncanny and more, which is great as all of those things were heavy inspiration for us.”
More specifically, what has been Wetwang’s response? Has anyone from Wetwang or indeed the afterlife been in touch?
“One Wetwang resident has reached out to us and mostly said ‘yes, this all makes sense’. I’m not sure what that means, but she seems to be enjoying the show.”
How will The Wetwang Hauntings – Live! take the story further than the podcasts?
“The live show goes a little further into the tapes than where we are in the podcast. We’re looking at three hauntings chosen by the cast, with a fourth one to be chosen on the night by the audience.”
What will happen in the live show? Who will take part?
“The show features three out of four of the Neon Crypt gang, plus we’ve drafted in a couple of the Deathly Dark Tours gang, Dafydd and Dalton, who are the alter egos of Jimmy [Johnson] and Ben [Rosenfield].
Laura McKeller’s Dede Deathly in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
“Laura McKeller is playing Dede Deathly, who is in turn playing the roles of several characters featured in the retelling of the hauntings. Michael Cornell is playing actor Michael Nightly, who is in turn playing his father Mayor Nick Nightly. Layers on layers! Over the course of the night we will be exploring the events that occurred in Wetwang in the 1990s.”
How will you use the theatre space as opposed to York’s streets to set the atmosphere?
“It will be warmer, which is always nice. We have tech that isn’t usually available to us, even having the ability to play sound and music, to isolate certain areas of the space.
“Over the years, we have become very, very good at scaring people on the sometimes mean streets of York with nothing more than what nature provides, so you can only imagine how much terror we will be conjuring in the theatre.”
What’s next for the Deathly Dark Tours as the dark nights lengthen and the chills set in?
“I’m stepping back from the tours for a little while to focus on Neon Crypt. The ghost walk is in very good hands, and I have other ambitions I need to focus on for a while. I’ll be back now and again, but Dorian will be mostly behind the scenes of it all for a little while.
“We had an intense Halloween with almost 5,000 people joining the tour, of which we ran more than 120 in 30 days. Things do ease off a little over winter, but it’s still steady. Then it will be February half-term and full steam ahead again in no time!”
Dr Dorian Deathly on stage at Theatre@41, Monkgate
On a different note: will Jamie be in the Rowntree Players panto again this winter? If so, which role?
“I certainly am. It’s Peter Pan this year, and I’ll be ticking off a big thing on my bucket list by playing the role of Captain Hook. He’s a proper big baddie this year. No eggs, no roads, he just wants to kill Peter Pan and he isn’t shy about it.
“Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald have written a fantastic script, and I have some absolutely preposterous songs this year. I’m straight back into rehearsal for it the day after The Wetwang Hauntings closes its first run!”
Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours present The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Jamie McKeller will play Captain Hook in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, December 6, 2pm and 7.30pm, December 7, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Wetwang in a nutshell
EAST Riding of Yorkshire village, in the Yorkshire Wolds, six miles west of Driffield. Known for Iron Age chariot burial site and black swans. Television presenter and Countdown host Richard Whiteley served as honorary mayor from 1998 to 2005.
Michael Cornell bathed in red light in The Wetwang Hauntings –Live