Review: Room 13 at Battersea Arts Centre
Immersive Octopus' Halloween offering turns the fire that destroyed part of Battersea Arts Centre in 2015 into something far more menacing.
Photo: Harry Elletson
Immersive Octopus' latest production, Room 13, which runs at Battersea Arts Centre until 1st November, blurs the line between fact and fiction. Inspired by the real-life fire that destroyed BAC's Grand Hall in March 2015, the immersive production imagines a far more sinister aftermath. According to the show's fictional backstory, in the aftermath of the fire, a sealed chamber that wasn't on any plans was discovered. Inside was something so disturbing that the building's renovations were immediately put on hold.
Directed by Tom Maller (The Paddington Bear Experience, Doctor Who: Time Fracture), the 35-minute-long experience has visitors accept an invitation from the Circle of the Veil, a society of paranormal investigators looking to reopen the sealed chamber and uncover what lies inside.
Combining immersive performance, impressive sound design and extended blackouts, Room 13 provides an experience that's certainly creepier and more unsettling than some of the other Halloween offerings we’ve covered across London this month, even if its impact is slightly diminished by the size of the room.
Photo: Harry Elletson
The experience begins in the lobby of Battersea Arts Centre, with small groups escorted upstairs and through several of the building's scarred hallways by a member of the Circle of the Veil. As they're passed between successive members of the society, the tension gradually builds, with each member revealing more about the chamber's discovery. A final warning from Serin (Megan Louise Wilson) not to trust anything we see or hear beyond the threshold to Room 13 and to remain as quiet as possible once inside does little to calm the nerves.
Inside, groups are seated at large engraved tables, each furnished with two wooden boxes. Through hushed tones, a society member (Jeffrey Mundell) instructs the table to unlock the boxes and place what's inside on top. While there are some neat theatrical tricks on display here, the task at hand is pretty simple to complete, and, once it's finished, each table is left to its own devices for an extended period, with little to occupy them while they wait for the story to continue.
With each table having unlocked their boxes, the society member begins a summoning ritual to commune with the entity that's long been sealed inside. Connections are made between famous historical fires and the one that ripped through Battersea Arts Centre over a decade ago, and before too long the room is plunged into darkness as the entity makes itself known.
Photo: Harry Elletson
It's during these moments that Room 13 most closely resembles a Halloween experience, with some mild jump scares and impressive sound design from Matt Farthing that evokes DARKFIELD's audio-based work. Your mileage will vary on exactly how scary you'll find these moments, but given the room's size and the repetition of the same jumps in different parts of the space, it's easy to anticipate what's coming ahead of time, which lessens the impact and makes the show's more intense moments feel unsettling rather than terrifying.
As a piece of site-specific theatre, Room 13's incorporation of the venue's history lends the show's premise some real weight, but it never quite lives up to the full potential. Unsettling, creepy and atmospheric, it's an engaging 35-minute burst of entertainment, but it won't be keeping you up at night.
★★★½
[Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review]
Room 13 runs at Battersea Arts Centre until 1st November 2026. Tickets are priced from £20.00 per person. For more information and to book tickets, visit bac.org.uk
