Interview: Theodora van der Beek on Studio Zweklos and HMR-SEE

Studio Zweklos is a London-based performance studio working between immersive theatre, comedy, live art and nightlife culture. The collective was co-founded by performer and producer Theodora van der Beek, whose six solo shows have toured internationally, alongside immersive experience-maker Nathan Ess and producer/curator Morgan Brame.

Van der Beek’s work spans live performance and film, often exploring power, identity and the absurd mechanics of systems through mischievous, lo-fi theatrical worlds. Last month, her latest solo show, Mr Creep, was part of Soho Theatre's Soho Rising Festival 2026, and her 2021 theatrical film, Ram of God, was described as "deliciously daft" by The Guardian.

Van der Beek first met Ess while working on the production team of You Me Bum Bum Train, where the foundations for Studio Zweklos were formed. Ess runs the creative studio Muddled Marauders (Vegetables), and Brame is known for Uncle Barry’s Birthday Party and also curates the club night Lowerhouse. Together, their backgrounds span participatory theatre, large-scale immersive production and underground party culture - a crossover that informs Studio Zweklos’ approach to live, system-driven experiences.

Later this month, they'll launch their first experience, HMR-SEE, which sees them take over Bethnal Green Working Men's for an evening that begins with immersive performance and installations before descending into a cabaret and office party, all presented under the guise of a brand activation for a government body.

Ahead of HMR-SEE's opening, we caught up with Studio Zweklos' Theodora van der Beek to learn more about the fictional history of the trailblazing creative agency.

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Immersive Rumours: Hi Theodora, thanks for speaking with us today. You're currently over in Los Angeles with Studio Zweklos - what brings you to the States?

Theodora van der Beek: I’m working on an activation concept that needed a US lens. America has always been at the forefront of commerce, culture, and, whether you love him or hate him, the president wrote The Art of the Deal. It made sense to come here, immerse myself at the epicentre of capitalism, and see what Studio Zweklos can absorb, adapt, and take forward.

Photo: Studio Zweklos

Immersive Rumours: For those who are unfamiliar with the agency, can you tell us the story behind Studio Zweklos?

Theodora van der Beek: I’d spent most of my career moving between different spheres, across marketing, design and comms, as well as festivals and travelling after hours. Over time, I grew disillusioned by the mundane briefs landing every Monday, tired of pretending that this was what the world needed, with a barely believable smile plastered across my face. I felt like Edward Norton in Fight Club before he leaves his corporate job. I longed for my own Fight Club. Not literally, but CONCEPTUALLY. I needed something to give.

A chance meeting with self-styled 'Girl Boss' Ariana Aragon sealed the deal. We conceived of Zweklos - a world where brands meet chaos, and SURVIVE it. Our first activation was thrown together on a wing and a prayer. We brought a wild mix of people together, and watched them collide, improvise, and realise the magic of brand activation. That collision, that energy, became our signature: taking institutions designed for compliance and turning them into experiences designed for connection.

Immersive Rumours: How do you and Studio Zweklos define brand activations in 2026?

Theodora van der Beek: It’s where strategy surrenders to human experience with unexpected consequences. It’s less about campaigns and more about creating moments that matter - a Choose Your Own Adventure. When you come out the other side, all you want to do is go back and read it again and choose a completely different adventure, and you can. Because that's what Choose Your Own Adventure is. That’s what Zweklos is.

Immersive Rumours: And what makes your approach different from other creative agencies?

Theodora van der Beek: We change lives.

Photo: Studio Zweklos

Immersive Rumours: Can you walk us through your creative process? How do you turn a brief into an experience?

Theodora van der Beek: We treat every brief like a system that wants to be broken. First, we pull it apart: language, assumptions, unspoken rules. Then we ask what happens if we turn them inside out. Usually, that’s the moment the client wants to leave. But we don’t let them. And needless to say, we’ve never had to give a refund.

Immersive Rumours: What’s the most surreal moment you’ve seen during an activation?

Theodora van der Beek: It has to be Bath Taxidermy’sThe Stuffed Experience - part of a collaboration with a local pest control business we can’t name for legal reasons.

We worked closely with Jeremy Strong, who’d always focused on animals people traditionally find lovable, and challenged him to imagine a different future - one where one person’s pest becomes another person’s treasure.

Watching a usually suited, office-based board of executives running around trying to catch rats was genuinely the most out-there thing I could have imagined. I never thought my life would turn out like this. But then again... just another day in the office!

Photo: Studio Zweklos

Immersive Rumours: Have there been any activations that didn’t go as planned?

Theodora van der Beek: One moment that really tested that balance was our activation for the Coal Authority. We transformed their entire office into a mine-themed immersive environment - low lighting, industrial props, interactive displays - and gradually led participants down a series of expanding rabbit holes. By the time we reached something closer to Alice in Wonderland meets Snow White, people had completely suspended reality.

That’s when we introduced the idea that a handful of guests could uncover diamonds and take them home. What we didn’t anticipate was how fully people would commit to the fiction. The play didn’t end when it was supposed to - participants forgot who they were and that they were meant to leave. The night kept going, the rules started mutating, and suddenly we were running out of diamonds.

We could have pulled the plug. Instead, we made the bold decision to let it run. Yes, it cost us real money - but it was a strategic investment. What we gained in client trust, cultural capital, and belief in what brand activations can do was priceless.

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t creating the world, it’s gently reintroducing reality. Some of those people may still be there, at least in spirit. My stomach only accepts Bone Broth for the first two days post-activation. I have to be really careful.

Immersive Rumours: What kind of talent thrives at Studio Zweklos?

Theodora van der Beek: Our ideal team member is the kind of person who sees a spreadsheet and thinks, ‘How can I make this sing?’

Morgan, our Communications Architect, thrives here because he’s always thinking three steps beyond the obvious. He’s young, eager, and knows his x from his y.

His passion for executive salads isn’t just a hobby; it’s a calling. In his spare time, he now hosts the go-to virtual salad forum for all things leafy and lateral. That’s the kind of visionary thinking we love to facilitate - and the kind of talent we get behind.

Photo: Studio Zweklos

Immersive Rumours: What’s next for Studio Zweklos?

Theodora van der Beek: We’re obsessed with one question: what happens when brands are unleashed? We’re fiercely protective of the secrecy around our activations. Clients sign NDAs, devices are confiscated on entry, and what happens inside stays inside. What I’ve shared here about the Coal Authority and Bath Taxidermy is the sanctioned edit.

You don’t really understand a Zweklos experience until you attend one, which is why I’m so excited to invite you to our next activation. We’re working with a well-known government body who we can’t name, and calling this activation: HMR-SEE (in no way affiliated with HMRC), and for the first time, we’re opening the doors to the public.

It’s happening at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club on Friday 20th March - and it’s not one to miss. I can promise you that.

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Studio Zweklos' HMR-SEE is at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club on 20th March 2026. You can find Studio Zweklos on Instagram at @studiozweklos. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.zweklos.com