Reviews of Immersive Productions in London

Madhouse re:exit is an immersive theatre experience set in the bowels of ‘Paradise Fields’ a notionally luxury social care facility. Luxury it is not. Madhouse uses true accounts from surviving patients from St Lawrence’s Hospital in Surrey, a ‘madhouse’ of the old kind, and places them behind the scenes in Paradise Fields. The audience, led by the mysterious ‘Patient 36’, a disabled everyman figure, go on an alternative tour of modern social care. Access all areas mean to shake up our … [Read more...]

It certainly wasn’t Professor Plum with the candlestick in the ballroom, but that doesn’t mean that something sinister didn’t happen the night Rusty was last seen alive! The old factory just off Borough High Street seems unassuming, but when you knock for entry, make sure you’re ready to jump in feet first because once you’re through the door, you’re in! In 1983, in a derelict rug factory, Rusty is seen alive for the last time after a pretty wild party. 33 years later his body is discovered … [Read more...]

Romeo and Juliet is probably one of the World's most performed plays; I have seen at least ten productions over the years - it remains timeless and if performed well, is a beautiful production. When I heard that Colab Theatre were tackling the piece in their own special way I just had to experience the production for myself! Unlike other Colab productions, there is no tying up of people (well, not the audience/participants anyway) and no gun shots or crawling through dark corridors on your … [Read more...]

Drinks, is currently playing as part of the Basic Space Festival in Peckham. The festival is a site-sensitive theatrical event that is set within two Victorian Safehouses in Peckham. The idea is that the festival enables audiences to open their minds to different creative possibilities in unlikely places. I'd been invited to Laura and Dave's housewarming party. I made my way to Copeland Road in Peckham (via the pub, after all who turns up at a house party alone without a drink inside them!). … [Read more...]

On Thursday Night, my friend and I were trying to blend in and not look suspicious inside Waterloo Station - the starting point for the latest installation of Colab Theatre's Theatre experiences. Colab Theatre market their work as immersive/pervasive theatrical experiences where each member of the "audience" takes a starring role. Before arriving we are given a list of things that we must do in preparation for the evening's events: - bring: headphones, a phone with at least 8MB of storage … [Read more...]