Review: What We Must by Aaron James Oliver

Photo: Angelina Cage

If you survived the end of the world, what would you be willing to do to stay alive? What would you hold sacred? Would you be able to live with the decisions you had to make? Those are the questions posed in What We Must, an interactive storytelling experience from theatre maker Aaron James Oliver that draws inspiration from tabletop roleplaying games.

Taking place within one of COLAB Towers' atmospheric tunnels, What We Must asks the audience to imagine that they're part of a burgeoning post-apocalyptic settlement somewhere in a ruined London and must traverse the city against the clock to not only return to safety but also warn their community of an impending threat. The exact details of who, when and why are left up to the audience, who collectively decide on the finer details of the apocalypse together at the start of the show.

On the night we attended, the group decided that for us, the end of the world had been caused by a household AI that gained sentience and set off the world's nuclear arsenal while trying to make some toast, but the potential options for how the world ended are endless and left to those in attendance to decide, with everything from zombies to pandemics and climate change all on the table. Regardless of what is chosen, the world has ended, and we, as a group, are doing what we must to survive.

Once the world has been sketched out, the show narrows its focus from collective invention to personal introspection, with each audience member asked to note down on small wooden tokens something their post-apocalyptic character treasures, someone they care about within the larger group, and their feelings towards their present position in the world. Although these notes don't tie directly into the show's story until its final moments, they serve as a grounding exercise to get those in attendance thinking about the toll of existing in the world they've just created and influence their thinking as the story plays out, encouraging them to remain true to the persona they've privately created.

Photo: Angelina Cage

In the centre of the tunnel, surrounded by the audience, sits a board that depicts the five steps the audience needs to advance through to make it home safely, as well as five lights - one of which is extinguished with each passing day. On each of the five days, a problem stands between the group and progress, and their decision on how to tackle it dictates whether they move forward, stay where they are, or are knocked back.

During our playthrough, we came up against a bridge close to collapsing, injured strangers in desperate need of help, rival gangs, and the opportunity to do some much-needed looting for supplies. While they're all fairly well-trodden tropes of post-apocalyptic stories, the conversations and debates they spark force the audience to think about how they'd respond in those situations and state that choice for all to hear. Thankfully, there's nothing within What We Must that would cause raised voices and proper disagreements between the group, but as anyone who's ever played a TTRPG game or taken part in an experience that relies heavily on audience discussions will tell you, the loudest voices often win out and hold the greatest influence.

While the group votes on all final decisions, the show's story is set in a world that's unfair and unforgiving. To that effect, everyone can choose to act ruthlessly and in their own best interests by overriding the group's decision and forcing their choice through, thanks to a skull token given to each audience member that can only be played once. If one of these tokens is played, their decision wins out, even if only a single player decided to do so. This selfishness has a cost, though - a die is added to the next day's roll, increasing the chances of rolling a six and lowering the group's chance of future success, potentially derailing their journey home.

Depending on your personal feelings towards each of the problems posed throughout What We Must, the idea of being ruthless will land differently. During our playthrough, the group largely leaned towards being selfless and attempting to leave our ruined world slightly better than we found it. On the occasions that some disagreed with that idea, the idea of using a skull token quickly became the focus of the limited time given to talk through each scenario. Those who have a more pessimistic view will likely find themselves trying to gauge where the rest of the group stands and weigh up if others agree to potentially hold off using their skull token until later on, while those in favour of being altruistic will be trying to keep others on side.

Photo: Angelina Cage

Acting as a gamesmaster throughout, Aaron presents each scenario with fittingly evocative and powerful storytelling. Environmental details, characters and situations are all described in detail, creating a vivid picture in the audience's mind, and with each new day, the intensity increases. By the final days, the decisions got harder, the consequences greater, and the odds of survival slimmer. Alongside communicating the show's world to the group, Aaron deftly responds to every decision and question throughout, adapting and reshaping the story on the fly, meaning every show is unique.

Adding to this, there's a live score by Viola Pippin Wood that soundtracks the show. Made up of sustained, minimalist drones, the score works overtime to underpin the story's bleak setting and add weight to every debate and story beat. Come the show's conclusion (which incorporates all of the group's personal notes from the show's opening), it ramps up to an emotive crescendo that complements Aaron's parting words perfectly and gives the final act of What We Must some real emotional heft.

Photo: Angelina Cage

In recent years, TTRPGs have seen a huge surge in popularity. While admittedly, it's not a world we're well-versed in, their influence and impact on popular culture (driven largely by Dungeons & Dragons) are still clear. The success of venues like RPG Taverns near Borough and The Archanist's Tavern in Hoxton, which both focus on creating spaces for people to engage with TTRPG games outside of their homes, shows that there's a huge number of people looking for meaningful experiences that revolve around communal storytelling, and the use of TTRPG mechanics in live experiences is giving creators new ways in which to create worlds and audiences new ways to experience them.

With What We Must, Aaron Oliver has created an engaging and memorable piece of interactive storytelling that's as powerful as it is bleak. It's ideal for those looking to dip their toe into TTRPGs and see what all the fuss is about, fans of post-apocalyptic stories like The Last of Us and The Walking Dead, and those curious to see if their moral compass aligns with others.

★★★★

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What We Must ran at COLAB Tower from 30th October to 1st November 2025. To stay up to date on future performances, follow Aaron James Oliver on Instagram at @aaron_oliver_storytelling.