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Immersive theatre company Punchdrunk have today confirmed the date of their final 'party' event prior to the closure of The Burnt City in Woolwich on the 24th September 2023. The Last Rite, the last 'Divine Rites' party, will act as a final send-off to the groundbreaking immersive production. Taking place on Sunday 17th September, The Last Rite has been billed as including pop-up performances by the cast and extended performing family, guest DJs, and a return of The Walk of Terror - the house band from Punchdrunk's 2013 show The Drowned Man, who will be performing in Peep, the speakeasy bar within the set of The Burnt City. Punchdrunk released the following, confirming The Last Rite... All good things must come to a glorious end. But with all endings come new beginnings. Join us for one night only as we party into eternity as the city burns around us. Dance amongst the shades and celebrate all that was and all that will be with pop-up performances, DJs, bars and debauchery. Send The Burnt City once more into oblivion and set your souls on fire. See you at the end of the world. Opening in March 2022, the production has sold over 200,000 tickets. By the time it closes, the show will be the longest-running mask show that the company has presented in London. Over 600 people have worked on the show, making it the largest project in Punchdrunk’s history. The epic retelling of the end of the Trojan War, set between the neon-drenched backstreets of downtown Troy and the menacing but opulent shadow of Greece, is played out across two vast warehouse buildings. Part of the old Woolwich Arsenal, these buildings provide Punchdrunk with its first permanent home in London. Punchdrunk is keen to keep pushing the boundaries of the company’s craft and make use of the unique space the buildings provide in different ways. News of future projects will follow later this year. Tickets are available via www.theburntcity.com/tickets

Punchdrunk have today confirmed plans for a series of masterclasses and workshops themed around the companies approach to creating site-specific experiences, as well as intimate walking tours of The Burnt City's set for those eager to revisit the venue after its closure in September 2023. These experiences will be open to anyone who wants a deeper insight into the process and approach our creative team takes to unlock the possibilities of a space, create intricate design, build different environments with lighting and sound, and translate source texts into a language of physical performance. For those eager to visit and learn more about the world of Troy, our extensive set tours with knowledgeable guides are also available. You could be an artist looking to develop your own practice or are just eager to explore the world we created within The Burnt City. Details of the tours, masterclasses and workshops are below, as well as booking links: The Burnt City Set Tour Explore the world of Troy with these intimate walking tours. Our knowledgeable guides will lead you through the space, including 1:1 spaces, and reveal stories behind how this unique world was brought to life. Here you can ask questions about the building process and, if you wish, share your own experiences of The Burnt City . When: Various dates & times, 27 Nov-15 Dec. (90 minutes) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £45, local residents £25 (includes a post tour beverage). Access patron tickets include a complimentary companion ticket. Book here. Who: Ages 11+ (under 16s accompanied by an adult). Anyone with an interest in The Burnt City, Punchdrunk, Greek mythology or immersive world-building. Performance Workshop Delve into the work and performance practice of Punchdrunk, the ‘world’s leading immersive theatre company’ (GQ Magazine). Join a member of The Burnt City’s company as they explore the unique process for performers, developed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle, which has inspired and crafted Punchdrunk’s immersive work. Learn how to create genre-defying experiences through the blending of classical texts, contemporary dance and physical performance. When: Thursday 14 December, 10am-4pm (6 hours, including breaks) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £150, local residents £85. Book here. Who: Ages 16+ with an interest in performance. No experience necessary. Design Workshop Step behind the scenes in this interactive design workshop where we demonstrate how we bring this multi-sensory world to life. Led by a member of The Burnt City’s design team, you’ll experience the evolution process involved in prop-making through building your own keepsake, inspired by the world of The Burnt City. When: Wednesday 6 December, 10am-1pm or 2-5pm (three hours) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £75, local residents £45. Book here. Who: Ages 16+ with an interest in immersive design and prop-making. No experience necessary. Production Management Workshop Learn how to transform abandoned spaces into the fantastic worlds Punchdrunk plunges its audience into. This Production Management workshop provides you with insight into the Production department’s role in building an immersive, site-specific experience at Punchdrunk. Through dynamic activities and exercises on the set of The Burnt City , our team will give you the tools to think and problem solve creatively, as well as give an overview of how to deliver a project that breaks the mould of theatrical experience. When: Wednesday 29 November, 10am-1pm (three hours) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £75, local residents £45. Book here. Who: Ages 16+ with an interest in production management, lighting and sound. No experience necessary. Immersive Storytelling Masterclass with Felix Barrett An Immersive Storytelling Masterclass with Felix Barrett MBE. Punchdrunk is the spark that ignited the immersive genre, introducing mainstream audiences to this now hugely successful form. In this masterclass, the company’s BAFTA-nominated founder, Felix Barrett, offers an introduction into the techniques behind his creative process. From learning how to analyse a text, translating it into the physical space and breaking from traditional models of storytelling, this is an opportunity to understand the foundations to creating immersive shows – giving you the tools to push the boundaries in your own creative work. When: Tuesday 28 November, 10am-2pm (four hours) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £350, local residents £195. Book here. Who: Creatives and mid-career professionals who wish to apply the insight gained through this masterclass to their own professional career. Immersive World-Building Masterclass with Stephen Dobbie An Immersive World-Building Masterclass with Stephen Dobbie. The Burnt City’s Sound Designer Stephen Dobbie shares his creative process, and explores the highly collaborative role sound plays within building the world and evoking feeling in Punchdrunk’s work. In this masterclass, you will learn to appreciate the particular details and textures of sound design, and how it is used as a mode of storytelling through a unique exploration of The Burnt City . This is an opportunity to both deepen your understanding of collaborative process and sound design, and unlock how the key tool of listening can elevate your own creative practice. When: Friday 8 December, 10am-2pm (four hours) Where: Punchdrunk Labs Tickets: £350, £195 for local residents. Book here. Who: Creatives and mid-career professionals who wish to apply the insight gained through this masterclass to their own professional career.

Image: Secret Cinema Ahead of Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical opening at Battersea’s Evolution, London on 1st August 2025, double Tony Award-nominated choreographer Jennifer Weber has been in the UK workshopping the all-important movement of the show, blending iconic steps with hip-hop and a fresh flair for Secret Cinema’s newest production, which is presented in partnership with TodayTix. Jennifer received both ‘Best Choreography’ Tony Award nominations in the 2022-2023 Broadway season for her work on & Juliet and KPOP , both of which opened within a week of each other. With Jennifer's roots in hip-hop, the choreography for Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical blends the iconic with the contemporary. Each performance of Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical will be a two-and-a-half-hour spectacular which blurs the line between screen and reality, and for the very first time, the entire film is brought to life all around you with actors and immersive elements seamlessly blending with the on-screen action. Step into the ultimate director’s cut and live at the very heart of Grease as screens play the fan-favourite film whilst a 30-strong cast and live band bring to life all of the songs from the film’s hit soundtrack including ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ‘Beauty School Dropout’, ‘Greased Lightnin’, ‘Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee’, ‘Summer Nights’, and ‘We Go Together,’ fusing the film and its iconic moments with a modern live-action experience. From the moment you enter Rydell High, you are invited to join all the action – follow your favourite characters, cheer on the T-Birds, share secrets with the Pink Ladies, learn to hand jive, join choir practice, get a taste of 1950s American diner-inspired delights and visit the fun fair as dazzling live performances and sensational dance numbers enthrall ahead of the sensational collective finale. The production will also feature iconic locations from Grease, including Frosty’s Palace, The Beauty School, The Carnival, The Gym, The Autoshop and La Cafury Beauty School. Image: Secret Cinema Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is being produced by a multi-award-winning creative team with both West End and Broadway credits, including Matthew Costain (Director); Tom Rogers (Set Designer); Jennifer Weber (Choreographer); Howard Hudson (Lighting Designer); Gareth Fry (Sound Designer) and Ian William Galloway (Video Designer). The 2025 production marks the first of three consecutive summer events from Secret Cinema, at Evolution London, their most central London venue to date. Future productions based on other iconic titles for 2026 & 2027 will be announced later in the year. Secret Cinema last staged an immersive version of Grease in Summer 2023 at Birmingham NEC with Grease: The Live Experience. You can read our review of that show below. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical will run from 1st August to 7th September 2025 at Evolution London in Battersea Park. For more info and to get tickets, visit greasetheimmersivemoviemusical.com

Further details have been announced for Secret Cinema's return to London with Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical. Tickets are currently on sale for those signed up for the Secret Cinema pre-sale and go on general public sale on Tuesday 18th March 2025, at 9am via greasetheimmersivemoviemusical.com Each performance of Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical will be a 'two-and-a-half-hour spectacular which blurs the line between screen and reality', and for the very first time, the entire film will be brought to life all around you with actors and immersive elements seamlessly blending with the on-screen action. A 30-strong cast and live band will bring to life all of the songs from the film’s hit soundtrack including ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ‘Beauty School Dropout’, ‘Greased Lightnin’, ‘Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee’, ‘Summer Nights’, and ‘We Go Together,’ fusing the film and its iconic moments with a modern live-action experience. From the moment you enter Rydell High, you'll be invited to join all the action – from follow your favourite characters, cheering on the T-Birds, sharing secrets with the Pink Ladies, learning to hand jive, joining choir practice, getting a taste of 1950s American diner-inspired delights and visiting the fun fair on offer ahead of a collective finale. Locations from the film, including Frosty’s Palace, The Beauty School, The Carnival, The Gym, The Autoshop and La Cafury Beauty School will also feature. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical is being produced by a multi-award-winning creative team with both West End and Broadway credits, including Matthew Costain (Director); Tom Rogers (Set Designer); Jennifer Weber (Choreographer); Howard Hudson (Lighting Designer); Gareth Fry (Sound Designer) and Ian William Galloway (Video Designer). Director, Matt Costain, whose previous productions with Secret Cinema include Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Dirty Dancing said: Grease has been an enduring cultural phenomenon for decades and rightly remains one of the best-selling film soundtracks of all time. With GREASE: The Immersive Movie Musical, we are delighted to bring to London an experience which celebrates the film’s timeless youthful exuberance, retaining the best of its nostalgic feels but integrating a dash of modern Secret Cinema magic to keep audiences on their toes, too. Much more than any screening or stage show that’s gone before, this is a celebration of the era, featuring the entire movie and all of its songs just as you’d expect, as the film fuses with the live experience. With audiences at the heart of the action, there will be no other Summer Night in London like it. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical also sees the introduction of a new event ticketing structure. General Admission (Free Roam) tickets start at £49 offering general access. VIP Seated (Roam and Return) tickets will, for the first time, allow attendees to join the world of Rydell High with the option to return to designated seating throughout the event and start at £79. Premium Immersive (Join the Cast ) tickets begin at £149 and offer an experience like never before, with ticket holders learning choreographed routines in advance of the performance, before joining the crowd-dazzling company. The 2025 production marks the first of three consecutive summer events from the masters of immersive entertainment, at Evolution London, their most central London venue to date. Future productions based on other iconic titles for 2026 & 2027 will be announced later in the year. Secret Cinema last staged an immersive version of Grease in Summer 2023 at Birmingham NEC with Grease: The Live Experience. Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical will run from 1st August to 7th September 2025 at Evolution London in Battersea Park. For more info and to get tickets, visit greasetheimmersivemoviemusical.com

Voidspace Live , the two-day festival focusing on interactive arts, installations and exhibits, returns to Theatre Deli near Liverpool Street in June following a sold-out 2024 edition. Taking over the venue across the weekend of 7th and 8th June 2025, Voidspace Live will feature over 30 shows (including four LARPs, three one-on-one shows, one self-guided audio piece and two Jubensha games), over a dozen installations and four workshops. It's also been confirmed that 15 pieces of work will have their public premiere as part of Voidspace Live. Voidspace Live 2024. Photo: James Lawson For the 2025 edition of Voidspace Live, the festival will feature work from the likes of Deadweight Theatre (creators of 2024's The Manikins: a work in progress), Seth Kriebel and Zoe Bouras (who performed The Unbuilt Room at Voidspace Live 2024) and Emily Carding (actor, writer and theatre maker who specialises in Shakespeare, responsive immersive theatre, and the horror genre). The Voidspace is an organisation that explores and platforms interactive arts that focuses on performances, texts, games and multimedia pieces that invite their audience to participate in some way, in addition to watching, reading or listening. Think interactive theatre, fiction and poetry, performance art, arthouse games, audio-visual work, LARP, and playful media of all kinds.  Voidspace Live 2024. Photo: James Lawson Speaking on the line-up announcement, Voidspace's Katy Naylor said: We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing Voidspace Live (in association with Theatre Deli) back this year, bigger and better than ever. It's so exciting to be able to fill Theatre Deli with such an incredible range of performances, games and installations. Expect to get stuck in and try out something new, as we bring you new work from familiar faces, incredible work from artists you've never met before, and a lot of surprises. The full line-up for Voidspace Live 2025 is listed below, with additional shows to be announced in the future. Tickets are on sale via this link . SATURDAY AND SUNDAY Untitled By Deadweight Theatre Deadweight are a London-based experimental theatre company specialising in interactive performance. Their multi-disciplinary approach to making work draws on their backgrounds in scenography, dramaturgy, filmmaking, and visual art. Their show The Manikins: A Work in Progress was a sell-out hit in 2024. Jury Games Photo: Jury Games Friends of the Void Jury Games return to the festival this year! Jury Games are award-winning interactive experiences that dive into thrilling criminal mysteries. A blend of crime-solving and immersive theatre. Look through the evidence of a case, interrogate the defendant, cast your verdict. Hamlet (An Experience) By Emily Carding After breaking new ground with award-winning Richard III (A One Person Show) , which was a hit at last year’s Voidspace Live, Emily Carding brings us a new interpretation of Hamlet and you, the audience, are the players arriving at Elsinore. Hamlet needs your help to take on the roles of his friends and family and resolve the great questions of life. Journey through the play together and become immersed in the story like never before. Hamlet has the questions. Do you have the answers? Cafe +44 By Maria Jose Siminez Silva In this moving audio piece, which takes place in and around Deli’s cafe, the artist invites you to see her history through her eyes by exploring the history of immigration in her own family and how she found a home away from home. for better [or] worse By Yiannis Pappas Maria Ambramovic Institute performance artist Yiannis Pappas presents a brand new long durational participatory performance, conceived especially for Voidspace Live. Come along and join in making something very special together. Uncle Barry’s Birthday Party by Mia Foster and Ariana Aragon You are invited to share an evening with us in celebration of our dear Uncle Barry… Our guests ought to know that interactions will occur at this party, as they do at any, and ours will involve some light touch. If this will make you uncomfortable, please feel free to decline this invitation. However, if you want to hug cake and eat friends, please join us! We would love to have you, and know Uncle Barry would too. SATURDAY ONLY FAUST By Seth Kriebel and Zoe Bouras Photo: Emma Bailey. Image: Elsa Kriebel Seth Kriebel and Zoe Bouras bring us Faust , a new version of a very old story, an interactive twist on the classic tale of the infamous doctor and his deal with the devil. Seth and Zoe performed The Unbuilt Room at Voidspace Live 2024 and are theatre makers, performers and devisors. ‘The intersection of our Venn diagram: We both make unusual performance!’ The Unbuilt Room started nearly 14 years ago and has been performed all over the country, one of many other interactive shows the pair have created and toured. Where We Meet By Unwired Dance Theatre Photo: Unwired Dance Theatre What if you could hear others’ inner thoughts? Immersive dance theatre meets XR tech to spark human connection in an increasingly digital – yet divided and lonely – world. Step into the minds of three unique characters, and join them as they embark on individual and uplifting journeys of self-discovery. Where We Meet is an interactive and immersive dance theatre performance, where you’re in control to reveal the hidden stories behind each character. We invite you to rediscover the joy of human connection, as an antidote to today’s increasingly digital – yet divided and lonely – world. Devil In The Details By Hazel Dixon and Usva Inei A family comes together to perform a powerful ritual; in order to keep living their extravagant lifestyle, they must pledge themselves to a dark and mysterious power. Using an ancient first edition of the Picture of Dorian Grey, they’ve found a way to store hardships into a portrait. However, with any boon comes dangerous consequences. Audience members will switch between playing members of the family and playing the devils that emerge from their portraits. As family members, participants will interact with one another, while as devils, participants will engage in art-making. The progression of the art will reflect the progression of the characters. Who – or what – will you become? No Wet Socks By Ella Raymont and Arlo Howard Become a happy camper and take part in activities and crafts, guided by your camp counsellor! No Wet Socks is all the best bits of summer camp – with no wet socks; an interactive experience that transports us back to the joys of camp, condensing two weeks of activities into just one hour. This unique journey is designed to remind adults of the importance of slowing down, sparking their imagination, and reconnecting with their inner child. Only Exit By Camden Barrett and Angela Rauf ONLY EXIT is a performance practice/installation which looks at the collision of found space and public space in performance, and the utilization of wearable apparatus in performance. Anarchy, anarchitecture, and pleasure in transgressive protest are all themes in this mischief-making participatory piece. Interact with signage available in the found space, as well as visual and audio ephemera/apparitions, and challenge learned spatial behaviour as you commune and collaborate with each other and the space… or make a mess and/or simply watch the joyful chaos unfold. Spy of the Year By Tom Black, Arlo Howard, Chloe Mashiter, Hannah Raymond-cox Bringing Jubensha – the hit Chinese murder-mystery/RPG/theatrical hybrid – to the UK for the first time, Spy of the Year, set at the eponymous awards ceremony, is a playful and melodramatic game that puts the audience at the centre of the action. Audience members take on the role of spies from the same agency, whose celebrations are interrupted by terrible news – shady organisation InCog is leaking information about them, with a grand reveal of all their secrets when the winner of Spy of the Year is announced! It’s up to the players to uncover which of them is the mole before the final award is presented. Will you get there in time? Accept The Cookies By Accept The Cookies Team This is an electrifying and fully interactive exhibition about our rights and freedoms in the digital future. In the age of surveillance capitalism, we ask: how much of your mind are you willing to give away to algorithms and big tech? A cyberpunk-inspired, immersive sci-fi story, sprinkled with glitch, digital fairytale, and online tropes like blue ‘verified’ badges, persistent cookie requests, and opt-out boxes that are impossible to find; the audience are the main character in their own odyssey in data ethics. Playfully camp, this show offers a performative panel discussion with a rollerblading host, a tongue-in-cheek ritual that looks at cringe culture and gets people to archive and recreate their social media content IRL, and a deep level of reflection on our own relationships with data ownership, surveillance, and big tech. Afterwards, audiences will have the choice to join our secret Telegram group and await further instruction to keep going down the rabbit hole… If You Think I Should Make Beter Life Choices, Turn To Page 42 By Hakan Akgül An interactive monologue play in the style of choose your own adventure books and TTRPGS, the story follows a man after a night out, sneaking away from a hook-up, who realises he’s lost his one emotional keepsake—and any sense of direction. Drunk and disoriented, he tries to retrace his steps but spirals into panic, unable—or unwilling—to decide his next move. Now, the audience must take control, guiding him through the night’s chaos. Can they steer him home safely, or will they get him into trouble? Navigate puzzles to help him retrace his steps, roleplay encounters with strangers on the street or in the club, and manage his dwindling emotional and physical resources – ultimately shape his final reckoning, in this experience balancing control with the weight of responsibility. Meet Me At The Tavern by Rebel Rehbinder and Kol Ford The first in a series of TaverQuest games that were developed during lockdown; Inspired by Terry Pratchett and J.H. Brennan the world is light-hearted, whimsical and fun. Participants will each take on one role inspired by common fantasy tropes. As adventurers gather in the Olde Tavern to prepare to bring The Dread Wizard to justice they discover that all is not as it seems…. My Favourite Path/Route By Mahshid Alavi A deeply interactive show about the deep emotional connection we have to certain roads, pathways, and places—especially when we are far from home—Alavi explores memory, nostalgia, displacement, and shared experiences of movement through storytelling, live music, technology, and audience participation. Beginning with Alavi recounting their experience of driving down Valiasr Street in Tehran, watching its iconic plane trees and feeling the pulse of the city, the show slowly shifts focus to the audience and makes them co-creators of the experience. Audiences will connect to the space, reflect on their favourite routes, and share their experiences if/when they feel ready. The outcome is a collective, imagined road, built from many voices and memories. The Sixth Subject By Liz Cable The Sixth Suspect is a Victorian-set murder-mystery escape room, and a highly interactive workshop where the audience will first solve a murder, and then create their own narrative-based mini-escape game, by introducing their own suspect… The Legend By Juice Cui An interactive shadow puppetry experience that transcends time and media. Blending sound art, drama, traditional shadow puppetry, and digital interaction, it breathes new life into ancient myths, inviting the audience to co-create a living legend guided by sound and animated shadows. In this project, each note represents the soul of a mythological character. They serve as catalysts for transformation – when the audience triggers different sound keys, the artist manipulates the shadow puppets behind the screen, bringing the story to life through a mesmerising dance of light and shadow. Come and bring the myth to life, as it unfolds as an audible, visible, and ever-evolving narrative. SMITE (Shadows Must Intervene To Endure) By Ed Davies A telephone rings…Answer the call from another time. Follow the whispered fragments and the paths between reality. Discover, deliver, decide: The Fate of those who reside. All will be lost should you not step inside. The drum beat sounds, in confidence confide. Gaslamps alighting, memories fracturing, shadows searching, and love letters burning. The veil between worlds is thinning.SMITE is returning. Be the cure, with hearts pure. Shadows Must Intervene To Endure. Workshop: An introduction to Ambient Lit By Tom Abba In this workshop, Tom will be talking all things Ambient Lit – writing that responds to the reader’s physical environment & surroundings. Tom’s work on the Ambient Literature Project – a collaboration between UWE Bristol, Bath Spa University, and the University of Birmingham – brought us experiences such as A Hollow Body , These Pages   Fall Like Ash  and On Bitter Ground . Join him today to get an insight into this exciting work, and an opportunity to make a small Ambient Lit piece of your own. Voidspace Live 2024. Photo: James Lawson SUNDAY ONLY The Crow Club by Dean Rodgers The Crow Club is a Soho nightclub. It is frequented by the highest and lowest of London society, and famous for one thing: murder.  An immersive murder mystery game inspired by the Chinese Jubensha format, and bringing in elements of immersive theatre and escape games, The Crow Club is a Soho noir, which sees players locked in a nightclub with a murder to solve… and one of them is the killer. This is a game of social deduction and deception. Players must uncover the secrets hidden in the Club – and in their fellow players – to solve a murder. S(t)olas by Thomas Jancis This hilarious and earnest participatory show sees the audience meet and converse with a demon confined within a circle.  But it’s not all just giant owls and favourite rocks. Drawing upon 17th-century English folklore and biblical mythology to talk about modern-day loneliness and isolation, S(t)olas examines connection, companionship, and community (and maybe covens) as the audience learn about the demon and perhaps help him to escape. Will you help the hapless demon, or seal his fate? Continuum by Et Al. Performance Continuum is a durational performance celebrating the unseen labour of stagecraft. A mix of cabaret, clowning and live art, audiences will be presented with a series of tasks transforming mundanity into a spectacle with sound and music. Break traditional theatre etiquette, talk, answer your phone, take photographs, interact with the props and see what you can uncover in this joyful and reflective piece about community, control, repetition and surprise.  Mind Control Disco by But Why? Theatre Mind Control Disco is an immersive, participatory audio adventure where guests experience the thrill of a party guided by O.M.N.I., an AI designed to create the ultimate night out. The show combines synchronized instructions, epic tunes, and a playful exploration of AI control versus free will, offering a unique blend of entertainment and social interaction. Funny, playful, and profound, Mind Control Disco is a dance party of epic proportions. Will you follow O.M.N.I.’s control or rebel against it…? Support Group for the Newly Human by Chloe Mashiter This show casts the audience as members of a support group entirely filled with those who, whilst now human, used to be something else – werewolves, vampires, zombies, immortals, ghosts, etc – and must now navigate common limitations (ex-zombies’ loss of purpose/clarity/simplicity in their lives, ex-werewolves’ comparative fragility/weakness/vulnerability, etc) through a mix of conversation and therapeutic activity.  Using role-play as a way to reflect on real life, Support Group … is about how we engage with limitations, frustrations, the things we wish we could change about ourselves, and how creative framings for this can be a release.  MIA by Cross-stitch Theatre A single room. No set. No costumes. No actors. A single envelope lies on the floor. When stripped back to its roots, what do you need for a mystery to be solved? MIA invites you to solve a mystery within a mystery. Who killed David Fischer? What does the colour red have anything to do with it? And where on earth are all of the suspects? Secrets of Barrenbrook by Bunbury Banter Secrets of Barrenbrook is a darkly comic, interactive theatrical event centred around a social deduction game. Inviting audience to actively participate, and fostering a sense of community and imagination through shared storytelling, Barrenbrook has received glowing reviews for its engaging narrative and multi-sensory design. Step into the centre of the action, as you become a vital contributor to the storytelling process. Dig In by Caro Murphy and Arlo Howard In Dig In, you play as a member of a family around the holiday dinner table. Every person at the table has a bone to pick with someone else, and conflicts will arise… This LARP explores common family tensions and frustrations along with what makes a good apology.  Arsenic and Lies by Karolina Soltys It is 31 December 1919 and the party at Weatherby Manor is in full swing. The guests exchange furtive whispers of intrigue, blackmail and forbidden love. At midnight, a glass of poisoned champagne shatters, dropped from a dying hand. The family has to find – or frame – the killer before the police start looking too closely into their secrets. A beginner-friendly LARP inspired by Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie novels, focussing on emotions, relationships, secrets, and blackmail. Save the Raccoon by Yudi Wu Save the Raccoon is a live game show aiming to find the best “trash artist” to save the raccoons, as the species becomes homeless and endangered in a zero-waste future with no bins. To earn the title of best trash artist, the “raccoons” (you the audience…) will have to go undercover and beat a system ultimately rigged against them. Inspired by Wu’s experiences navigating the UK funding & awarding system as a rural-based first-gen immigrant artist, the game design has been adapted from the application process and requirements for the Global Talent Visa.  Reflecting on their journey, the show not only presents the ridiculousness of navigating a system that is unfair for the “raccoons”, but also the privilege that “elite raccoons” have over the others under this system, along with their exploitation of the “loser raccoons”. Find Your Superpower by Loy You’re a high-flying exec, and business means business. You’ve signed up for this workshop to maximise your productivity and 10x your financial returns. Oh yeah, and maybe there can be some afterthought about the environment or something. Looks good on paper, innit.  The thing is, something doesn’t feel right today. You had your double macchiato and it just didn’t go down like it usually does.  And this workshop host… they seem a bit..odd. Are you about to get more than you bargained for? Join this workshop with a difference to find out.  Zine making workshop: Cosy Weird by Assemblage Collective Assemblage Collective are a group of young creatives who take a hands-on approach with a focus on making and doing. They express unity through physical manifestations of creative intent. In this workshop you will learn to make your own zine, using a collage of found words and images, and anything else you want to bring to the table. The theme: Cosy weird. Voidspace Live 2024. Photos: James Lawson Voidspace Live runs at Theatre Deli near Liverpool Street/Aldgate on the 7th and 8th June 2025. Tickets for each day are priced at £55.00. To book and find out more info, visit voidspacezine.com

We venture into Room 101 as part of the Ministry of Truth's recruitment process in 1984 - A Unique Theatre Experience Photo: Maggie Jupe Pure Expression's adaption of 1984 returns to Hackney Town Hall for a second year, featuring a fresh cast, creative team, and new direction by Jack Reardon (From Out The Land, Pucked). When the revamped production was announced in September, writer and executive producer Adam Taub promised it would be “more visceral and more challenging” for audiences. While this iteration certainly delivers a more visceral experience and makes some positive strides over last year’s version, it remains hindered by an underdeveloped and truncated script that strips away much of what makes George Orwell's novel so impactful. Photo: Maggie Jupe The show begins with an extended pre-show in Hackney Town Hall's Atrium. After being handed an ID badge, we're invited to grab a drink or take a seat and await 'processing'. Ensemble members, dressed in pastel-grey Ministry uniforms adorned with Ingsoc badges, menacingly roam the space with clipboards. Greeting everyone as 'Comrade', they quiz attendees on their opinions about Big Brother and gauge interest in joining the anti-sex league. Soundtracked by eerie hums and drones, the familiar slogan of 'See it, say it, sorted' occasionally echos through the space, highlighting how modern-day Britain shares more similarities with Orwell's Oceania than we'd like. Following a short musical performance on stage by two party loyalists, the audience, all prospective candidates for roles within the governmental organisation, are instructed to proceed upstairs into the Council Chamber to be assessed. It's here that we're introduced to O'Brien (Dominic Carter), who gives a lengthy speech underlining the importance of the Ministry's work. We're asked to stand for the National Anthem before O'Brien singles out some of the audience by badge number. Quizzed on our observational skills, and with a rapidly dwindling number of participants who had demonstrated the necessary surveillance skills, we're soon escorted back to the venue's atrium for the remainder of the show, which now doubles as the Ministry's observation centre. Photo: Maggie Jupe Adam Taub's adaptation of Orwell's original novel has done away with a lot of the smaller moments and character building and instead focuses on a few key moments which are performed on the central stage within the Atrium. Presented as a telescreen, we briefly get to see Winston (Joe Anderson) and Julia (Neekita Knight) first meeting and falling for each other, before immediately jumping forward in time six months to see them secretly cohabiting. We've barely had a chance to understand exactly why these two were drawn together in the first place, or exactly why their decision to secretly build a life together may have dire consequences, before their flat is stormed by Thought Police, and the pair are separated. While it hits many of the main beats in the original novel, so much of what made it resonate with readers has been lost. Photo: Maggie Jupe The remainder of the show sees Winston being tortured and interrogated inside Room 101. These scenes are the biggest departure from last year's adaptation and thankfully, is where the creative team's efforts with the lighting, sound and video design get to shine. Taking direction from video designer Dan Light, the show's ensemble operates numerous cameras around the stage, capturing both the repeated scenes of Winston having his head dunked into a bath and being electrocuted, and the audience who watch on silently. Writ large when projected three floors high onto the back wall of the venue, it's as if we're watching a snuff film being made right in front of us. Some clever video trickery at a pivotal moment during Winston's torture also has us questioning if what's being shown via projection can be trusted, as it fails to line up with what we can see happening on stage in front of us. When combined with Ben Jacob's excellent lighting design and Munotida Chinyanga's haunting sound design, these final scenes in 1984 are an arresting and intense experience, even if we've arrived at them so quickly, they lack the emotional depth you'd have hope for. Photo: Maggie Jupe With so much of the novel's story having been erased from this adaptation, what's then left for audiences to sink their teeth into? Well, in terms of audience interactions, all of the moments in which the audience is called upon for input can be boiled down to one question - are you loyal to the party? Those who commit to the idea that they're there to help push forward the Ministry's cause will get the richest moments of immersion, not least the single audience member selected to participate in the show's final moments. For the rest of us, who have shown ourselves to be less committed to Big Brother, we're left to watch an adaptation of Orwell's that's visually engaging, but over far too quickly. ★★★ ½ Immersive 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience  runs from 1 October 2024 to 22 December 2024 at Hackney Town Hall. Tickets are priced from £24.50. To find out more and buy tickets, visit immersive1984.com

Ahead of Pure Expression's site-specific staging of 1984 returning to Hackney Town Hall next month, Immersive Rumours sat down with director Jack Reardon to discuss his plans for the show and how this iteration of the show drastically differs from the 2023 version. Immersive Rumours: Hi Jack. Thanks for speaking with us today. Do you mind telling us a bit about your history of directing and how that led you to becoming involved in 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience? Jack Reardon : So I'm originally from a very small town in Ireland called Clonmel in Tipperary. I trained and did a Master's at The Lir Academy, and then spent the next eight years there in Dublin. I was really fortunate with the companies I got to work with and had an amazing experience immediately working at scale. One of my first jobs was on Let the Right One In, which John Tiffany originally directed. It was the West End production that came over to Dublin, which immediately showed me what theatre was capable of doing. I feel very fortunate for that because I think particularly young artists come into the industry, and they have to go through the fringe scene. Great credit to it, but I was very lucky to get to work in those big houses and see what working at scale looked like. I tried to bring that experience into my own work, and while I still did fringe theatre in tandem with it, I found a cohort of people in Ireland with whom I got to create work at scale over a couple of different summers at home in Tipperary . What started out as all of us having maybe € 3,000 to pay a bit to people, with Mam cooking for us for a few weeks in the summer led to us getting one of the biggest awards in Ireland, which is called the Open Call award. That resulted in a cast of 100 people where we were outside doing site-specific, huge spectacle theatre. That then brought me to London about 2 and a half years ago. I've been very lucky and fortunate here with the people I've gotten to meet and the advice I've been given. I think London is incredible at saying 'Come in, have a cup of tea, have a chat, and we'll point you in the right direction' which brought me to 1984. It was the Young Vic who suggested me to Maddie [Wilson, Producer] and Adam [Taub, Executive Producer] to touch base with because of a conversation I had with them where I talked about my experience. I think that's what's amazing about this city, people are afraid of it, and rightfully so sometimes, but when London's good to you, it's very good. IR: You’ve had experience devising immersive/site specific work before with Overlook - a show that was set to explore military life inside a former army barracks. Can you tell us a bit about the experience of working on that show and how ultimately the COVID-19 pandemic cut it short? JR: Overlook still breaks my heart today... we were due to create this immersive show with the Irish Defence Forces. We were a week away from going to the barracks in Kilkenny to train with the Defence Forces for a few days, then we got an email that said 'Hi everybody. We're a little bit nervous about this virus thing, so we're going to delay by a week.' Fast forward a couple of months; the world's locked down and the show was pulled. So much of the pre-production that went into that was incredible for both the work I'm doing in 1984 and indeed a lot of other shows I've done. The term site-specific is great, but I became more interested in the idea of site-responsive. How do you go into a space and allow it to be comparative to production, rather than just going in and slapping any old show up and onto it? You have to let that space tell its own story. So I think for 1984, when audiences step into that world, just the architecture alone of Hackney Town Hall, you walk in those doors and everyone goes, 'Oh, OK, yeah' and you feel it. That's design that you couldn't buy; you couldn't design it. The aura of that space is tangible. When I did Overlook, that in part became From Out the Land  with a lot of the research that we did over the next few years, which was also in the barracks but now outside, end-on theatre. The biggest thing was, how does the ground literally speak to the production, and how does it feed into it? How does it make an audience exist much more lively and freely in that world? IR: Hackney Town Hall would be an impressive venue for any show, but for something like 1984 it feels like a perfect fit for the Ministry of Truth with its striking architecture and period feel. How much of the decision making of what's going on in the show is in response to the venue, and how much is trying to get the venue to fit around the show? JR: There's always a bit of a give-and-take. I think where Hackney Town Hall gives, it gives limitlessly. The upstairs council chamber room, for example, every time we brought creatives into it, everyone has just gone, 'Well, we're just leaving this alone. You don't need to do anything to it'. Its regalness, authority, and purpose are so tangible. Ruth [Badila], our incredible designer, said 'We would spend a fortune and come nowhere close to designing this.' It's a gift to a designer and to a production. On the flip side of that, when you're downstairs in the atrium, our production still has to tell a story. How do we make this space into an observation centre that can be inside, outside, in a secret bedroom? How can it also be a torture room? How can it be Room 101? Hackney Town Hall atrium is a beautiful space. Thankfully, it's not a torture chamber. So how do you use it when it gives, and then how do you be creative with making that work? Thankfully, the incredible design team that are on board with this show, I'm so fortunate that we got them all to join us. The ideas that we have, the innovation - I don't think I've seen it personally in an immersive setting before. There are a whole lot of tricks and twists from a design perspective to make that building into what we need it to be. It's a show that's definitely for all the senses; it's going to spark some interesting responses. IR: This iteration of 1984 Immersive has been reworked from the 2023 version of the show. Can you tell us a bit about how it’s different and how those changes came about?  JR: Full respect to the previous iterations of Adam's script, but I think there was almost too much respect given to what a perceived production of 1984 might be and might look like. Maybe it was too faithful to the novel. When I came on board, the thing that I was most interested in was, Why now? Why do 1984 today? I think my production of 1984 is a production for today's audience. It speaks to us now as much as it does honour Orwell's 1940s novel. I think the biggest change among many other things is that it's a completely different production. It's not blue boiler suits. It's not strictly coming in and just watching a couple of scenes play out. It's much more intricate in bringing design into it and bringing audiences on this journey where I think, frighteningly, we can see ourselves in it, or at least we can see our countries and governments in it. I think people will be able to find a lot of touchstones to this production that feel much more now than it did previously. We could have just done what happened last year, but I think credit goes to Adam and Maddie, who wanted to evolve because they know what it can be. It will feel very different from previous iterations, but hopefully in a much more exciting way. It's a show that's definitely for all the senses; it's going to spark some interesting responses. At all times in our production, even when characters believe they have found a nest of solitude and a private corner, they are constantly being filmed and broadcast to the audience. IR: What aspects of Orwell's original novel were you most excited to explore when you first came on board? JR: I think that one of the biggest aspects that really appealed to me was making an audience feel complicit and how easy it is to be complicit in these things. You look on social media or regular media and find yourself going, 'What am I doing to fix that?' I think 1984 is great at showing a society in which you can't do anything. Your literal thoughts are policed to prevent you from acting out. I think so often we see so much happening in our world, but we find it hard to get involved. Don't get me wrong, people are doing incredible things the world over in contrast to that, but I think it's petrifying to see how these regimes get into power. In our world today, the rise of the far right is quite scary. 1984, as a novel and as a play says, yes, it is, but this is how it happens and this is how they do it. That's really interesting, exciting, and terrifying, but also insightful within our production to see how that happens and maybe how much you play a part in that as an audience member. IR: There's also an increased amount of AV elements being used in your version of the show. Can you tell us more about the impact that'll have on the show? JR:  So the big thing for me, both from the original novel and from Adam's script, is this idea of surveillance. The phrase Orwellian has become part of our vernacular, but when you actually think about what that means... right now I'm in this room and there's a CCTV camera in the corner. There's a webcam looking back at me. There are three cameras on my phone. We're constantly surrounded by them. The more and more research I did into current political systems, everything we see is because someone has a camera in your face at all times. I became really interested in this idea of surveillance and live cameras. Alongside Dan Light, our incredible AV designer, we're working out how that comes into it. At all times in our production, even when characters believe they have found a nest of solitude and a private corner, they are constantly being filmed and broadcast to the audience. We've got an incredible statement wall that we're going to use in a very exciting way with our live AV, but it all comes back to that idea of surveillance from the novel, from this script, and from our world today. How do you feel when even your most intimate conversations are being picked up on and broadcast to the world? IR: As we're speaking today you're midway through rehearsals for the show. How has that process been so far? Once you're working alongside the cast, how much of what you had planned changes once everyone is in the same room? JR: Our first two weeks were with our three principal actors, playing Winston, Julia, and O'Brien. They're the major voices in many of the scenes, so we figured out what the play was, and when Adam the writer came to see a run-through of that, I can't remember what his comment was, but he said, 'Maybe think about something else happening at that moment' and I went, 'Oh, Adam, there's another play on top of this play once we bring in the ensemble and cameras and equipment into it'. I think he was very excitedly blown away by the scale of what we were trying to create. This week has been bringing ensemble into that, and in short, a week ago we had this amazing torture scene. Now we have an amazing torture scene with three live cameras and five additional bodies. I'm not giving anything away, but we're doing some interesting things. Everything gets enhanced in these two weeks. In terms of what we plan versus what happens in the room, the greatest thing for me in working with actors is the creativity. Actors are incredible creatures in how they can make something work. If there's a line that's sticking for you, an actor comes in with their own interpretation, and you go, 'That's exactly what it is.' It's been their input into it, both the three principles and our incredible ensemble, of not how we've changed things, but how we've evolved things, we've made it better. To my creative team, I always say, 'Your genius is better than my genius'. I believe that if we share ideas, they will grow and become better, and everyone is there for a reason. Everyone has been incredible in bringing their own ideas, innovation, creativity, and genius into the room to enhance the production further. Immersive 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience  runs from 1 October 2024 to 22 December 2024 at Hackney Town Hall. Tickets are priced from £24.50. To find out more and buy tickets, visit immersive1984.com

1984: A Unique Theatre Experience  returns to London later this year for a strictly limited 12-week run at Hackney Town Hall. George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel is being reimagined by director Jack Reardon ( Artistic Director of Stagecraft, one of Ireland’s largest and leading youth theatres) , with a script adapted from George Orwell’s novel by Adam Taub. The show is being produced by Pure Expression, a site-specific theatre company that reimagines classic stories in unique environments. They've previously worked with institutions such as the Grant Museum of Zoology, the Jewish Museum London and Manchester City Library. 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience last ran at Hackney Town Hall in 2023 between October and December. This updated version of the experience will expand upon the 2023 version of the show, with new AV elements and a new cast. The roles of O'Brien, Julia and Winston were previously played by Jude Akuwudike, Kit Reeve and Declan Rodgers. Adam Taub, the Executive Producer of Pure Expression had this to say about the shows return: This is a new iteration of the show and far more ambitious. We have a brand new cast and creative team that have created a bold new vision for the show. There will be innovative digital mapping, video projection and AV work from creators who have recently worked in the West End, including the Haymarket’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. This production of 1984 is more visceral and more challenging for the audience. Why do we continually return to 1984? Because it has never lost its relevance. Because its warning of a dystopian future is one that we can all too easily imagine today. Jack Reardon, the director of 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience said the following: Open your computer, search the news, scroll through Instagram, post on Twitter - what has the algorithm decided is best for you today? Is it real? Does it matter? Once you believe it to be true, isn't that what counts? It doesn't take much to equate Orwell's 1984 to our own 2024. Whether it's news coverage, the constant awareness of phone, web or surveillance cameras or the increasing volatility of global politics.1984 remains as iconic today as when it was first published, only now we don't have to look far to imagine Orwell's dystopian world. But it's not all doom and gloom. When Adam invited me to be the director for the return, I immediately looked forward to inviting audiences into Hackney Town Hall and into a new world of ‘vigilance, eternal vigilance’. This production aims to give audiences an insight into what surveillance truly means, using the latest techniques in AV technology in an entirely original and innovative way. This is a site-specific, multimedia approach to the text, colliding Orwell’s world with our very own. The creative team that Adam and I have put together want to take the text to extraordinary new dimensions. The show will be lit by Ben Jacobs, winner of the 2022 Offie award for Best Lighting Designer with Salome, with Video and AV from Dan Light, whose video design was lauded in Sarah Snook’s West End performance of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Munotida Chinyanga, sound designer and Ruth Badila, set and props designer, complete the creative team. 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience runs from 1 October 2024 to 22 December 2024 at Hackney Town Hall. Tickets are priced from £24.50. To find out more and buy tickets, visit immersive1984.com

An immersive experience based on the life of Elvis Presley is set to open in London later this year. Produced by Layered Reality - creators of Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Immersive Experience and The Gunpowder Plot - will debut Elvis Evolution in 2025 at a Central London location. Photo: Elvis Presley Enterprises LLC While the real-life Elvis never performed on stage in the UK, the show will feature a concert experience where a life-sized digital Elvis will perform some of his biggest hits. It'll be preceded by a journey through his life - from Graceland, to New York and Los Angeles, before heading to Las Vegas - where he took up a seven-year residency between 1969 and 1976. Layered Reality will bring Elvis back through AI and holographic projection, as well as augmented reality, live theatre and multi-sensory effects. To aid the creation of the show, the company have been given access to thousands of Elvis’s personal photos and hours of his home video archive to create new AI Elvis performances that have never been seen before. Photo: Elvis Presley Enterprises LLC Founder and CEO of Layered Reality   Andrew McGuinness had this to say on the upcoming experience... Elvis Evolution is a next-generation tribute to the musical legend that is Elvis Presley. Elvis maintains superstar status globally and people around the world no longer want to sit there and passively receive entertainment – they want to be a part of it. It’ll be a memory-making experience that will be a bucket list item for Elvis fans and admirers around the world; people can step into the world of Elvis, walk in his shoes and celebrate his extraordinary musical legacy. The experience will also feature an Elvis-themed bar and restaurant on site, with live music, DJs and performances. Set to debut in London, Elvis Evolution will later open in multiple cities around the world including Las Vegas, Tokyo and Berlin. Photos: Elvis Presley Enterprises LLC To find out more about the experience, and to get presale access before the general sale, visit layeredreality.com/elvis Stay up to date on this and everything else immersive in London by following us on Instagram  or X .

Immersive newcomers Muddled Marauders will forever change how you look at carrots and parsnips with their surreal debut show, Vegetables. Photo: Muddled Marauders Clerkenwell Bio Botanics has opened the doors of its underground research centre to the public for the first time. They're hosting a product showcase of their groundbreaking biophysical work, and are looking for trialists. That's about as much information as was public about Vegetables, the debut immersive theatrical show from Muddled Marauders, until last week when it opened. Wrapped in secrecy since it was first announced in May, the producers have been tight-lipped about exactly what to expect, and for good reason. It's a show with an absolutely absurd premise that is best enjoyed with no prior knowledge of what is to come. Directed by Nathan Ess, the show has received backing from Arts Council England and is inspired by the likes of Julia Davis (creator and star of BBC's Nighty Night and Sky/HBO's Sally4Eva), Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror and writer/director Charlie Kaufman. While this is Muddled Marauders' first immersive theatrical show, they've been operating since 2016 in the underground rave scene and are best known for creating elaborate immersive parties in disused spaces. Photo: Muddled Marauders The show's story revolves around Dr. Angela Hass ( Adie Mueller) , a scientist whose recent breakthrough promises to 'fix you in ways you didn't know you could be fixed'. It's little surprise given the show's title, but it involves vegetables and in the best way possible, is absolutely ludicrous. Audiences are eased into the show first with welcome drinks provided by Dr. Hass' lab assistant Veronica ( Michelle Roberston) and a peek behind the plastic curtains that are scattered throughout their underground research centre. There's dozens of carrots, onions and parsnips floating in jars all over the sprawling hallways of their laboratory, and stems of broccoli hooked up to enough wires and sensors that Hass could probably trace which field they were grown in if desired. Photo: Muddled Marauders Over the show's 90-minute duration, the absurdity of the story ramps up to a comical degree. A scene midway through in which all of the trialists are offered a slice of carrot to eat leads to a moment so surreal we were in danger of choking from how funny it was. Later moments touch upon more serious topics surrounding consent and sexual assault, but they're not the main focus of the show's narrative and are only alluded to briefly. While it's light on the kind of immersive elements that some audience members might expect, there are opportunities for those willing to get involved - though it doesn't lead to much more than some brief improv between the cast and audience. Set across two main rooms, those who attend will also find themselves seated for much of the show's duration. For a first outing into immersive theatre, Muddled Marauders have produced a show that's unique and different to everything else currently playing. They're a company to watch out for in the future and if you're willing to follow them into an undisclosed basement in Clerkenwell, it makes for a hell of a story to tell friends and colleagues about the following day. Photos: Muddled Mauraders ★★★★ Vegetables runs until 23rd June in a secret location in Clerkenwell. To find out more and apply for tickets, visit https://www.clerkenwell-bio-botanics.co.uk

Vegetables, a new immersive show for audiences of up to 13 people per performance is set to open at a secret location in Clerkenwell this June. Produced by Muddled Marauders , the show is set to run from 8th to 23rd June. The show's description is as follows: Clerkenwell Bio Botanics is inviting guests for a product showcase at their secret underground research centre. Dr Angela Haas has built a machine that can fix you in ways you didn’t think you could be fixed.. follow this link to be apply to be one of our lucky trialists. To attend, audience members must apply via clerkenwell-bio-botanics.co.uk The Arts Council England-funded show is directed and written by Nathan Ess and edited by Dan Wye (Seayonce). The show is inspired by the work of Julia Davis, Charlie Kaufman and the Channel 4/Netflix series Black Mirror. Vegetables takes places at a secret location in Clerkenwell from 8th to 23rd June. Tickets are available via clerkenwell-bio-botanics.co.uk and are priced at £40 per person.

R Space Productions, the producers of upcoming immersive horror escape experience DEATHCELL: Magenta, have released an official trailer and production images ahead of the show opening next month in Hackney Wick for a limited two-week run. The show is described as a 'wild and thrilling experience, combining theatrical cinema, time-pressured puzzle solving and impossible decisions', and is the follow-up to 2018's DEATHCELL, which won Best Out Of Season Attraction at the 2019 ScareCON Awards. Built on chaos and corruption, DEATHCELL is a formidable institution of abused government power. It’s a heart-pounding prison of puzzles, punishment and paranoia. A problematic penitentiary where decisions determine fate. In this modern dystopia, inmates are treated as players in a political prison, fighting for survival and subject to pained puzzles where choice is a weapon of fate. You must select to survive. Photos: R Space Productions R Space Productions are a first-of-its-kind hybrid company, combining award-winning productions and experiential immersive workshop experiences alongside creative entertainment services, attraction design and creative, operations management, event marketing and more. Driven by a core team of just six members with more than 30 years combined experience in the live entertainment industry, and led by founder and managing director Steph Ricketts, R Space Productions is on a mission to lead the way in immersive entertainment, creating see-it-to-believe-it experiences. DEATHCELL: Magenta Trailer (via R Space Productions) Steph Ricketts, Founder & Managing Director of R Space Productions, commented: I can't wait for the world to discover what awaits from R Space Productions. Our upcoming show, DEATHCELL: MAGENTA, is set to leave a lasting impression, marking our most daring venture to date. By blending elements of cinema, immersive theatre, escape room puzzles, and the thrill of horror, we're pushing boundaries and crafting new forms of escapism with compelling storytelling. Our journey began six years ago with nothing but dedication and passion. Witnessing the team at R Space Productions dive wholeheartedly into this project fills me with immense pride, leaving myself and many excited for the future that lies ahead. Photos: R Space Productions Liam McClean, Head of Marketing & Sales at R Space Productions adds the following... This experience is like nothing you’ve seen before. We’ve created something unique, innovative and next-level scary. DEATHCELL: MAGENTA is one-of-a-kind, and I can’t wait to hear the screams of pure terror and excitement. Photos: R Space Productions Once guests have secured their tickets, they'll be invited to Rewind Rentals (a nod to 80’s nostalgia and the late Blockbuster Video) to enjoy an exclusive screening of an unreleased short film horror-flick, MAGENTA. But as the lines blur between fiction and reality, the true test lies in making it to the end of the film in one piece... are you ready to push play? Deathcell: Magenta will run from 21st February to 1st March 2025 at an undisclosed location in Hackney Wick. Tickets are on sale now, starting from £30.00. For more info and to book, visit deathcell.co.uk