Silent Voices Meets Psychic and Science

Silent Voices talks to Richie Ross, the Producer and Director of The Psychic and Science theatre Show. Richie Ross
and has been a leading light in the entertainment industry for over 15 years.

Psychic And Science” is a totally unique and original new theatre show touring the UK. Joining the team on stage is the UK's
top haunting historian Richard Felix, psychic and medium Chris Conway, Denise Mott of Compass Paranormal and Paul Gannon
Psychic and Science attemps to unravel the mystery surrounding  the spirit world with concise and rational explanations.
This show is truly interactive with demonstrations, experiments, vigils and readings.

Hi Richie, thank you for doing this interview for Silent Voices.

What is your interest in the paranormal world and how did you get involved with it ?
 
I’ve never really had a great interest in the paranormal world. It’s more my partner Steve who has, however, I’d watched the early series
of Most Haunted with Derek Acorah and it did kind of become a must-see show on the TV each week. However when it became more
about the presenters on the show and not the paranormal I stopped watching it. Then in 2010 whilst I was working in Europe on another
production, I brought Steve a ticket to an event with an events company which he enjoyed. When I was back for a couple of weeks we went
on a ghost event at Languard Fort which is near to where we live with Compass Paranormal and I kind of liked the way Richard and Denise worked.
 
I was already aware that another company had intended to do a theatre tour, but had cancelled, so in January this year, I thought there was a market for this kind of production and approached Richard and Denise Mott from Compass about working on it together. Luckily they agreed and we’ve formed a really strong alliance with them.
 
As a theatre producer, I work on a lot of different shows, “Psychic & Science “ is just one of them, but I have become a bit hooked on it!
 
 
What is Psychic and Science?
 
It’s hard to describe what it is – what it’s not is a mediumistic platform show, or a show with people running around with white sheets on their heads. My original concept and idea was for real audience participation, making them the centre of the show, just as Compass Paranormal do on their events. So we produced an interactive show with live experiments the audience take the lead in, with a great cast on stage who have credibility and are engaging in their performance.
 
 
In creating Psychic and Science, did you think something new and exciting was needed ?
 
For me, the most critical part of this show is its credibility. I’ve been producing shows for ten years now and if I was going to do something like this, I had to protect my reputation. I’ve built up a good standing in the theatre industry and I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice this for something that wasn’t real. It’s interesting to note that even the theatre marketing officers didn’t know how to market the show, it’s just something that they’ve not had to do before! It means we’ve had to be creative and innovative which has been really challenging but rewarding. I was sure that if there was a market for this kind of show, we were the right people to do it. Denise Mott knows a lot of people in the paranormal world and so she knew who was best to bring on board, and luckily it’s worked. My only criticism is how bitchy the industry is. I’ve worked all over the world, on huge arena shows with A list celebrities, but nothing prepared me for the backlash from other event companies or paranormal people who seem to be jealous of what we’ve created. I find it all futile and rather pathetic. However, we have also received great support from people not involved with the show so that kind of balances it all out!
 
 
Who are the Psychic and Science team and what roles does each member take? (backstage team)
 
We tour with a full production and crew. It takes about five hours to get everything in and built from the set, lighting, audio visual to sound. On the road is our Production Manager, Kevin Roach, Senior Technicians Chris Hawes and Chris Ketchell who also doubles up as our camera operator. I’m also at each show as I direct it live on the night.
 
 
Who are the stage stars of the show and what roles do they play in the show?
 
Denise Mott – Denise is our paranormal investigator. She’s also the glamour on stage! Denise is the link between the audience and stage, and really engages with them. She offers explanations to any activity and also the reasoning behind the experiments we take part in. Just as she does on an event, Denise is all about making it the audiences experience, not the cast on stage.

Chris Conway – Chris is the shows medium and psychic. I really like the way Chris works. He has a history with Most Haunted and there was some controversy when he left, which to me only increased and improved his credibility. I know that everything he says or senses is real. Nothing is set up and he has no prior knowledge of anyone coming to see the show. I don’t know if he gets messages from the dead, but what I do know is that whatever he senses or feels is very accurate and means something to someone sat in a seat somewhere. He’s also a really REALLY nice guy as well !

Richard Felix – What can you say about Richard Felix? If I had to think of three words to describe him they would be “enthusiastic”, “passionate” and “engaging”. He loves the paranormal world and is so interesting in his theories and stories you can’t help but listen!! Richard tells of local haunted legends and also the history of each theatre we visit. His knowledge is phenomenal. The only problem with Richard is getting him to stop talking !!

Paul Gannon – Our first choice to be host and compere was someone else, but I started to hear some not so nice rumours and again, to protect our credibility decided they needed to be replaced. Paul had previously been on an event with Compass as he was researching some material for his comedy night, and so he was the natural choice. Paul is a fantastic host, bringing the right level of personality whilst keeping a very open mind.
 
 
What can the audience expect from the shows?
 
The great thing about this production is that every show is different. We never know from one show to the next what will happen. Unlike any other show I’ve worked on, there is no script as such and so everything happens live. We have to stick to tight time deadlines for each section of the show which can be really annoying as just as you start to get some activity on a certain experiment, we have to move on to the next item. If anything it shows that two and a half hours is not enough, but unfortunately that’s the normal length of time for a stage show (unless you’re Ken Dodd of course!). Most of the experiments are in the second act where the tension really builds, whilst in act one we tackle the history and theory behind the fearful Ouija Board. It’s amazing most people are still so scared of it!! All together we probably invite just over 30 people on stage to take part in the experiments, with one poor soul being shut away in the darkest depths of the theatre with only a night vision camera for company. As well as this, it’s incredible how many people sense things in the auditorium. It’s given us some real moments of high tension.
　
 
You say the audience can get involved on the night, how can audience members get involved?
 
We’ve had some emails from people coming who have actually said they don’t want to be asked to take part. Everyone who joins in are invited and asked to, we certainly don’t force anyone to get involved. Sometimes those who volunteer have some reaction to taking part and in that case we get them out of it. Paramount is their safety and well-being, but it all adds to the drama of it ! What’s also interesting is the reaction we get from the theatre staff. Many many times they will also report seeing or hearing things which is always interesting as it’s ultimately their place of work.
　
 
What kind of stage experiments are you trying? Are you trying new experiments or just altered versions of old ones?
 
One of the problems we had was to actually try to fit everything in we wanted to do. As I said in act one we look at the Ouija Board, which can take some time to get going, but when it does, it’s really impressive, especially if it’s the spirit of someone related to a person in the audience or taking part. Richard Felix also discusses the relation between the spirit world and the church in act one, which has generated a lot of controversy in itself. At our first show in Skegness we actually had Christian protestors turn up, march around the outside of the theatre whilst spraying Holy water at the venue, and in Lancaster the local vicar turned up and spent two hours praying in his seat!! The second act we start with the Human Pendulum, then we do either a Séance or Table Tipping whilst one of the audience holds a lone vigil. The finale is our attempt to prove the Stone Tape Theory. This is the first time it’s ever really been tried and it’s some brand new equipment Richard Felix has designed alongside Paratec. It’s proven some incredible results and we encourage people to post their pictures on our Facebook page or website. To me, the theory behind it is very credible and I can see how it could work.
 
 
The human pendulum? can you explain how this works?
 
I don’t really know the theory behind it, but basically we get 11 people out of the audience and get them to stand in a circle. Richard and Chris stand in the middle and ask for the spirits to affect one of them. Normally one of them will start to rock backwards and forward. That person then comes into the middle of the circle and becomes the “pendulum” for yes/no answers. Some of the movement has been very erratic, and what is interesting is when we talk to them afterwards, they’re not aware or conscious that they are moving. During some shows it’s become apparent the spirit entity is linked to someone in the circle. In this instance, we always make sure they are happy to carry on and take part.
　
 
Do you believe the show can turn none believers into believers?
 
No I don’t. The show was never supposed to do that. If anything, all I ever wanted was for people to leave with more questions than answers and the comments we get afterwards, both on the website, via email and on Facebook certainly support that, so I’m happy with the end result!
 
 
There are 4 more Stage show dates this year, can you tell us what locations they are and where people can get tickets?
 
This year we’ve performed 18 dates all together. The last shows in November are at Gravesend, Salisbury, Worthing and Inverness. The easiest way to get tickets is to go onto our website, www.psychicandscience.com and follow the links to the individual theatre sites or call their box office direct.
 
 
Your 2011 UK tour was extremely busy, are you touring In 2012 and if so can you give us any details?
 
We are currently working on tour dates for 2012. However we won’t be sticking to a specific tour period so we’ll be touring around the UK throughout the year. We’re also going to Ireland in June which will be great and we’re all looking forward to that. We’re also working on some really big open air events with the Psychic & Science team which will be announced at the start of 2012, so all in all, it’s going to be a really busy year! We also have a pilot underway for a mainstream TV channel which if commissioned will be aired this time next year.
 
 
Do you have plans to take Psychic and Science abroad to other countries?
 
I'm currently in talks with promoters in America and Australia so hopefully if we can get enough dates filled, we'll be over there sometime in 2012. At the moment, everything is possible!!
　
 
Work and personally, what would you like for the future ?
 
My next project is to launch “Compass Radio” which will broadcast online every Sunday night with a mixture of programming, some paranormal and some not so that’s an exciting venture to be involved with. I'm also working on other productions for 2012 including the reunion tour of 80s supergroup Five Star as well as producing a new Irish dance show, and a show featuring a dance troupe called Vakali so it’s all busy for me in the immediate future which is great. I tend to not look too far ahead though, it's the here and now that matters.

We’d like to thank Richie for taking the time to be interviewed by us. It was particularly interesting to speak to someone who does not work in our field. Please visit “Psychic & Science website where you can find details of the UK tour and forthcoming 2012 UK & Ireland Tour
 
We at Silent voices wish everyone involed with Psychic & Science good luck and best wishes for the future