We take a look at the intriguing and slightly macabre story of Wendy Weiner's Mystery House at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Wendy, how long have you been working in theatre and in what genres?
I trained as an actor at New York University as an undergraduate, and then went back to NYU for grad school in dramatic writing, so I've been doing this for a long time. All of my work is both dramatic and comedic, like life, which I find is almost always both.
Can you tell us something about the actual Mystery House?
I'd love to! So, it's this huge house that has 160 rooms in San Jose, California. The story behind it is that Sarah Winchester, heir to the massive Winchester rifle fortune lost both her baby daughter and her husband. In her grief, she went to see a medium who told her that her family was cursed by the spirits killed by the rifles. The medium told her that the only way to appease the spirits was to build a great house for them and that, as long as construction never stopped, Sarah would be protected. So she didn't stop: she built around the clock for 38 years! It's widely known as one of the most haunted houses in America and is a big tourist attraction.
What Inspired you to bring this house to the stage?
I found out that there was more to the story of the house than what I'd grown up hearing, and the story behind the story is even more interesting. And it got me thinking about a lot of things about ghosts and grief and obsession and love. I just knew there was a great story there.
Have you ever visited the house?
I honestly can't count how many times I've been to the house. I grew up nearby and, whenever people came to visit, I brought them there. More recently, my husband and I decided to go for our wedding anniversary! My husband is really into tiki bars, We drove to Bakersfield, CA, to go to a tiki bar called Tiki-Ko, and then drove four more hours to San Jose to go to the Winchester Mystery House. We kept joking, "People dream of going to Paris or New York for their anniversary, and we're super-excited to be going to Bakersfield and San Jose." (For those of you who don't know California, Bakersfield and San Jose are not exactly travel destinations.)
How did you feel about its aura and atmosphere?
The house always fills me with a sense of wonder. First of all, it's built in a Queen Anne-style and is just beautiful. Second, it has all these crazy features, like the 'Stairs to Nowhere' which are stairs that lead to...a ceiling. Or, like a huge door inside the house that you open and behind it is - a wall.
I understand this is your first time performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. What are you most looking forward to about it?
Yes, it is and I can't wait! I'm really excited to be performing Mystery House in the Turret Room at the Gilded Balloon. The fact that the building looks like a castle feels perfect for a show about this unusual and beautiful house. I'm thrilled that I'll have audiences from all over the world and that I'll get to see performers from all over the world. I'm also just excited to be in Edinburgh. I'm a total nerd, and I've already mapped out touristy things I want to see.
And you're not new to solo shows.
No. This is actually my fifth solo show. I performed my four previous shows at a variety of venues in New York, and they won awards at both the New York and San Francisco Fringe Festivals.
How long has it taken from your first thoughts about this fascinating house to now to get the play onto the stage?
As I've been going to the Winchester Mystery House since I was a kid, you could say it started then. But it was during the pandemic that I went from having the idea to actually getting it down on paper. Then, meeting my amazing director, Ryan Amador, was a real turning point. It's always such a gift when you meet the right collaborator at the right time.
What do you think will be the best selling point for this show amongst a sea of shows?
The house itself! I know that Edinburgh has its own rich history of haunted places and great ghost stories. I feel honoured to get to add mine into the mix.
