Performance manager at The Edinburgh Dungeon, Lyndsay Hebert, is celebrating two decades of terrifying audiences.
Lyndsay Hebert, from Edinburgh, first landed a job at The Edinburgh Dungeon in 2003 as an actor after tagging along with her friend who was auditioning for the role. After finding out they were looking for females, Lyndsay auditioned too and got the job.
Being paid to act was always a dream of Lyndsay’s, so after getting the job straight after college was a dream come true. After a year she realised her real passion lay in writing and creating the shows rather than being one of the site’s ‘resident traitors’, so after a lot of hard work, she was promoted to performance manager – a role she’s held for the last two decades.
The Edinburgh Dungeon is renowned for bringing the deepest darkest secrets of Scotland’s past to life, with hair-raising live shows and terrifying scenes throughout.
As performance manager, Lyndsay is in charge of bringing infamous stories and characters from Scottish history to life, helping the actors develop and creating new shows and performances at the attraction.
Lyndsay’s team has grown and grown over the years and there is now more than 30 actors at the attraction.
There is no ordinary day in the depths of the dungeon, Lyndsay Hebert said: “Some days are writing days, where I research a period of history and work out how to incorporate this into a show. Other days I’m looking at new gags, ways to immerse the guests and bring them as close as possible to our wealth of real Scottish history.
“I carry out costume, make-up and prop maintenance and we also have rehearsals or create soundtracks and videos. I’m often out in the city doing various scary photo shoots – honestly, no two days are the same!”
On her favourite aspect of the job, Lyndsay said: “Being able to work full time in a creative field is a dream, so the fact I get to do this every day is a real career highlight. I love Scotland’s history, it’s so dark and macabre, so it’s a pleasure to dive into different periods in time and learn all about the scary tales that shape the country today.
“I’ve produced more than 50 shows for the attraction, with highlights being Mary Queen of Scots, Jekyll and Hyde and our Séance show. Our Sawney Bean show holds a special place in my heart, as it’s been here since the attraction first opened, and what could be scarier than a cannibal?!” https://www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh/
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
