received complimentary tickets to this show and as such, are disclosing this information before our review Photos: Grant Walker Humbug lies behind an unassuming door at the end of Leake Street - an area of London With a peace offering of a present, our larger group of 15 or so are invited to go and meet the main experiences on offer in London are too eye-watering. ★★★½ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review

We recap our picks for 2025's best immersive shows as part of our Year In Review series. #5 - Bacchanalia anticipated shows of the year, with the show's initial runs at Crypt in Bethnal Green garnering rave reviews numerous world-class performers, and, of course, additional one-on-one interactions for a lucky few. #4 - Phantom Peak (The League of Adventure) Canada Water, January to December 2025 Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak's ongoing narrative continued to outshine nearly every other immersive show out there in 2025 with

★★★★ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Doin' The Lambeth Walk takes place across Central

. ★★★★ [Tickets provided in exchange for an honest review] Words: Danny Romeo The Shop for Mortals and

. ★★★★ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Photos: Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds:

. ★★★½ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Frankenstein: An Immersive Show runs until Saturday

. ★★★★½ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Bacchanalia runs at Crypt in Bethnal Green

Peak , Deadweight Theatre and Sleepwalk Immersive to find out their favourite pieces of work from the Danny Romeo, Experience Director, Phantom Peak A mind-blowing weird theatre experience, completely unlike Danny Romeo, Experience Director, Phantom Peak The big-budget remake of 2019's magical string and sticky Puck, Magician and Actor (Rhythm&Ruse) Phantom peak By The League of Adventure March - December 2024 Franco Milazzo, Critic, BroadwayWorld UK Phantom Peak is incredible!

Daniel McVey's comedic interactive whodunit casts the audience as prime suspects at a village fete gone wrong. Photo: Miranda Spencer Pearson For local gossip Lydia - the protagonist of Dan McVey's A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola - the discovery of a severed foot at the village fete is one of the most exciting things to ever happen in Greenwold. As a habitual nosy neighbour, she takes it upon herself to lead the investigation and, as is her civic duty as a parish councillor, question numerous residents on their recent whereabouts. It just so happens that those residents are all audience members, who volunteer to take on the roles and are then repeatedly summoned on stage to read from laminated scripts at Lydia's behest every time a new piece of evidence is uncovered and her suspicions shift. Those portraying eccentric local scientist Dr Sage, mathematics teacher Ms Lemon, heir to a 'toe-truck' empire Little Master Tommy Navy Blue and the mysterious Lavender Cook all get to share the stage with McVey's Lydia throughout the show, The most coveted role however, surely goes to whichever audience member takes on the role of PC Peach, a two-foot-tall puppet who's more interested in finally getting a spin at the tombola than solving crimes. There are real prizes to be won every time the on-stage tombola is spun too - with audience members during our performance walking away with everything from a doggy dental chew toy to a pack of Haribo and a copy of Calendar Girls on DVD. Due to the local church's stance on gambling, it’s a ‘win a prize every time’ kind of tombola, much to Lydia’s annoyance. Photo: Graeme Braidwood Over the course of an hour, the focus of McVey's consistently comical script slowly shifts beyond the cosy confines of Greenwold and its residents to examine the ideas of power, authority and the motivations driving those who hold it through the lens of H.P. Lovecraft-like cosmic horror. It's not until the show reaches its final fifteen minutes that - like in any good murder mystery - the true nature of the story finally becomes clear, leading you to reconsider everything that came before it. Wonderfully written, brilliantly funny and with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes throughout, this interactive murder mystery has all the makings of a future Fringe favourite. Our only complaint? We didn't get a go on the tombola... ★★★★ A Foot is Not an Appropriate Prize for the Tombola runs at Attic at Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33) until 31st August 2026 at 15:20. For more information and to book tickets, visit edfringe.com

Photo: Luke Dyson It’s been a bit of a quiet year for Secret Cinema. Following the acquisition of the company in September 2022 by TodayTix, they’ve not mounted a show in the capital since Guardians of the Galaxy opened in late August 2022. Being one of three shows they opened last year (alongside Bridgerton and the long-awaited Dirty Dancing), many fans assumed that with the backing of their new owners, and now firmly in a post-COVID world, 2023 would be full steam ahead with multiple shows opening throughout the year. Instead, we had relative silence on the company's social media in the first few months of the year. After a lot of teasing, it was confirmed in April that their next show would be Grease. But this show would have a twist - they were leaving London behind, instead mounting the show in Birmingham. It’d be their first full show outside of the capital in the UK. They continued to depart from tradition as the event drew closer, releasing a map of the site in June (a month before it even opened!), and also confirming that phones wouldn’t be locked away this time. While it remains to be seen if any of these will become the norm going forward, Grease certainly seemed like an opportunity for Secret Cinema to rewrite its rulebook now that they were under new ownership… The show does feel different to their two most recent outdoor events (Dirty Dancing and Romeo + Juliet) in a few key ways. Firstly, it’s much, much smaller. With a reduced audience capacity, reduced venue size and even a reduced running time for exploration, it’s a more intimate and focused affair than has been the norm. Clocking in at a bit over 90 minutes from doors opening to the film starting, Secret Cinema Presents Grease packs a lot into its exploration time. Relative to Dirty Dancing or Romeo + Juliet, it has roughly the same numbers of buildings and areas to explore, but in a much smaller space. This, coupled with the ratio of cast to guests also feeling higher, makes it easier to see more of the site quickly and get involved in what’s going on around you with ease. The other notable difference between Grease and the company's other outdoor shows is the newly relaxed rules on mobile phones. While they seem to still be trying to find a sweet spot between encouraging audiences to live in the moment, this show permits guests to still take photos inside that don’t include the cast. We found the use of phones to be a refreshing change that didn’t break the immersion of the event. You could get photos of your group inside the event without issue, which will surely help boost the awareness of what it’s actually like inside the gates - something that was tougher with guests' phones locked away previously. The cast all do an outstanding job of turning the Rydell High site into a living, breathing place - from the large re-enactments of songs like Summer Nights and Grease Lightnin’, to smaller character moments like Sandy perfecting stubbing out her cigarette with Frenchy, every pocket of the site has activities going on, and the cast are working non-stop to make the audience part of the world. If you're not being pulled into choir practice or being hit on by Vince Fontaine, you might be taking part in an egg and spoon race for carnival tokens or pulling off the prank of the century against Principal McGee. Even during the film's screening, the cast barely has a moment's rest, with every big song lovingly recreated in front of the screen - the National Bandstand scene is the highlight of this; it’s a chaotic and meticulously timed spectacle that must have been a nightmare to choreograph and perfect in rehearsals. Photo: Luke Dyson Overall, Grease is a great immersive experience that more than does justice to the source material. With a knockout cast and some amazing performances, it's one of the strongest outdoor shows Secret Cinema have put on in recent years. Fingers crossed that future outdoor Secret Cinema shows will follow in the footsteps of Grease and be smaller scale, as it makes for a richer and more engaging experience overall. ★★★★½ Find out about future Secret Cinema shows at secretcinema.org

. ★★★★ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] What We Must ran at COLAB Tower from 30th October

Our review of Humbug, the immersive Christmas dive bar. The experience, which this time around is at The Vaults just off Leake Street, combines live music, sing-alongs