WEREWOLF SIGHTED IN PORT TALBOT at The Old Red Lion Playhouse 24-28 February 2026

“Smart, unsettling, and thoroughly entertaining” ★★★★

A thrilling blend of dark comedy and horror, WEREWOLF SIGHTED IN PORT TALBOT hooks the audience with its quirky premise and naturalistic approach. Playing at The Old Red Lion Playhouse, this engaging piece by Andy Sellers explores relationship dynamics through a supernatural lens with impressive deftness.

A couple have pitched their tent in the Welsh countryside, where transformation proves more than metaphorical: Ffion is turning into a werewolf, and Billy attempts to act as moral support - with mixed results. What begins playfully tightens into something far darker.

The cast is uniformly strong. Sellers plays Billy with humorously pedantic intensity that lands as charmingly geeky and disarmingly earnest, while Lucy Harvard gives Ffion a grounded realism that anchors the play as events spiral into the uncanny. Their chemistry keeps the stakes intimate and immediate. Jenny Wall nearly steals the show in a hilarious turn as Kat, the jaunty visitor whose chirpy obliviousness is impeccably timed.

Under the assured direction of Adrian Greensmith, the production flows cleanly between comedy and psychological horror without jarring shifts. The pared-back black-box set - a tent and scattered camping accoutrements - is simple but effective, while an imaginative soundscape supplies the real chill.

Notably, the horror is largely suggested rather than shown - a restraint that proves a strength. By leaving much to the imagination, the production conjures dread more effectively than explicit spectacle could, making the conclusion land with grisly force.

At its core, the play probes the darker undercurrents of relationships - co-dependence, coercive control, jealousy - and the unsettling truth that monstrous acts can lurk behind ordinary facades. The script remains tight and punchy, ratcheting tension through well-timed reveals, including Billy’s murky past and the arrival of an unexpected third party. There are genuine laugh-out-loud moments too, particularly in the absurd “would you rather” scenarios the couple invent to defuse mounting tension.

Smart, unsettling, and thoroughly entertaining, WEREWOLF SIGHTED IN PORT TALBOT keeps its audience deliciously off-balance while trusting them to draw their own conclusions - a juicy morsel of fringe theatre worth savouring.

Box Office: https://weareoldred.co.uk/whats-on/werewolf-sighted-in-port-talbot/

Cast:

Billy - Andy Sellers

Ffion - Lucy Harvard

Kat - Jenny Wall

Reviewer: @anniesrpower