Bringing the legendary Hairy Hands of Dartmoor to the smartphone in your hands, Chronic Insanity’s new audio adventure, Hairy Hands FM, guides audiences on a treacherous journey, full of terrifying tales and fantastical folklore.
Since first sighted in the 1920s, mysterious ‘Hairy Hands’ have been blamed by motorists for numerous road accidents in Devon with drivers claiming a pair of hands has seized control of the steering wheel. Requiring just a smartphone and a pair of headphones, Chronic Insanity’s Hairy Hands FM brings these spooky sightings to life through intricate, unnerving binaural sound design with only a radio host for guidance to help defeat the mythical monster.
Hairy Hands FM will feature as part of BBC Arts’ talent development scheme New Creatives, encouraging artists aged 16-30 to push creative boundaries and reflect their experiences of living in Britain today. Nottingham-based company Chronic Insanity’s latest production follows in the footsteps of their twelve shows in twelve months project, which included ‘pick and mix’ digital theatre production 52 Souls.
Led by Nat Henderson and Joe Strickland, Chronic Insanity also use sustainable theatre making practices, record all performances in multiple digital formats, create new opportunities for other creatives to get their work on, and document the whole process for others to learn from.
Artistic Director Joe Strickland said, “I’m a theatre maker motivated by telling stories in ways that people aren’t familiar with, often with interactivity, often with digital technology. I’m also a big horror fan and love how, as a genre, it preys on collective and cultural fears. I think a lot of people are currently afraid of sudden unexpected chaos or things they don’t understand having immeasurably huge effects on their lives, and this is a fear horror can address really well, especially with an interactive horror experience in one’s own home. People like the safe space horror provides for confronting and exploring difficult topics, and, though this experience will be scary, this will provide a positive outcome – helping people realise they can control their fears, not be ruled by them.”
Hairy Hands FM is available via BBC Taster from 26th March.
