From races across the city against the clock and open-world towns obsessed with platypuses to expeditions into the darkest depths of Peru, here are our recommendations for the best family-friendly immersive experiences in London this summer holiday... London has never been short on family-friendly activities. From world-class museums and zoos to West End shows and tourist attractions that cater to all ages, there are hundreds of options for a day out with the family across the city. Amongst them are a handful of standout immersive and interactive experiences that allow families to either become part of the story, or get involved to a degree not possible elsewhere. Below are our recommendations for the top five immersive experiences running in London this summer that will both engage and entertain the whole family... The Paddington Bear Experience Photo: Alex Brenner An immersive walk-through show spread out over 26,000 sq ft in the heart of Central London, The Paddington Bear Experience invites guests to step inside the world of Michael Bond's classic stories for the first time as preparations for the Marmalade Day celebrations are underway at Windsor Gardens. Guests will get hands-on with a series of tasks throughout the experience as they meet a cast of characters from the much-loved book series, including Mrs. Brown. There's a lovingly recreated version of the Brown's family home, complete with the blossom tree mural at the foot of their staircase, and an excursion to Peru where you help create Marmalade, amongst other interactive moments. Photo opportunities with Paddington are available at the conclusion of the experience, as well as a chance to buy your own Marmalade sandwiches. The show is directed by Tom Maller, whose previous work includes some of London's biggest immersive shows of recent years (Peaky Blinders: The Rise, Doctor Who: Time Fracture, Secret Cinema's Blade Runner, Romeo + Juliet, and Casino Royale). Photos: Alex Brenner Help Paddington and the Brown Family prepare for a very special occasion: the Marmalade Day Festival. Just like Paddington, you’ll begin your adventure in the hustle and bustle of Paddington Station, where you’ll meet the friendly Station Master and hop aboard our full-sized train carriage – make sure you aren’t late! Journey through the sights and sounds of London, all the way to the Brown’s house at No. 32 Windsor Gardens. Step inside the Brown’s famous tree-adorned hallway and explore multiple rooms in their home, then venture beyond as you’re transported to the magical jungle of Peru – all to help Paddington prepare for the biggest party Windsor Gardens has ever seen! Finish by celebeating the Marmalade Day Festival at Windsor Gardens with Paddington and his friends where you’ll dance to vibrant calypso music, play fairground games and eat & drink festival treats – most importantly, you can try Paddington’s favourite Marmalade sandwich! 📍 Waterloo 💰 From £116.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via paddingtonbearexperience.com Phantom Peak - The Burning Blimp Festival Photo: Alistair Veryard Regular readers of Immersive Rumours will know how much we love Phantom Peak. Combining elements of escape rooms and immersive theatre, the show is a one-of-a-kind open-world experience that feels a lot like stepping into a real-life video game. Each new season of the show has 10+ story trails to work through, with each one taking anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to complete. As part of each trail, guests interact with both the town's many residents and numerous pieces of interactive tech scattered across the town to try and get to the bottom of what's going on. This season there's trails that parodying everything from Scooby-Doo to The Muppets and Furbies, on top of some huge developments in the show's overarching storyline, which focuses on a power struggle between the town's former Mayor and current leader, Jonas. On top of the main story trails, there's plenty of other things going on to occupy your time, including Platyhooks (hook a duck but with platypuses), numerous carnival games, a puzzle hunt and the Miramaze, which is complete with a bungee cord assault course and ballpit. Every session of Phantom Peak is open to all ages, and the show's cast is great at interacting with younger guests. It's an ideal real-world substitute for a day of playing video games at home. and is the standout experience in London's immersive theatre scene. Photos: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak is a fully immersive, open world experience - a living, breathing town where mystery lurks around every corner. Think of it as part escape room, part immersive theatre, part real-life videogame. You’ll meet mysterious strangers, uncover secret plots of rebellion, and find out what exactly happened to the old Mayor (coincidental accident, or cold-blimped murder?!) During your visit to the town, you'll meet the inhabitants of Phantom Peak; some diehard loyalists to JONACO, some less enthusiastically so. Such is the price of PROGRESS! Through interacting with them, you'll discover hidden secrets and clues that will help you to navigate the world!​​ Full of secretive quests and quirky characters, you experience the world through a custom-made made web-app (no downloads necessary!) that guides your adventure through man-made canals and a vast, split-level old town. 📍 Canada Water 💰 From £115.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com Jurassic World: The Experience Photo: Universal Studios/Amblin Entertainment Returning to London after previously being at ExCel London in 2023, Jurassic World: The Experience gives visitors the chance to step into a recreation of the world-famous dinosaur park and come face to face with some of the franchises best-known creatures. Spread across two floors of NEON at Battersea Power Station, this walkthrough experience - which lasts between 45 and 55 minutes - is packed full of outstanding animatronics, offers endless photo opportunities, and lets visitors get up close and personal with a number of dinosaurs from across the Jurassic World series, including Blue (Jurassic World) and Bumpy (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous). Jurassic World: The Experience is one of the few attractions where guests actually expect things to go wrong, and true to form, the Park Rangers have a lot to worry about in the second half of the experience when some of the parks biggest carnivores, including the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex, break free from their enclosures. Those with very young children might find these scenes are too intense for them, but for bigger kids and adults, it offers a thrilling encounter that feels like stepping directly into the movie, and is on par with the climactic moments of film's various theme park attractions in terms of spectacle and awe. Photos: Universal Studios/Amblin Entertainment Jurassic World: The Experience, which returns to London due to phenomenal demand, will be the first of many live entertainment experiences to be staged at the new attraction. Visitors will walk amongst pre-historic giants and get up close and personal with countless different species across two floors of curated Jurassic World immersive environments within this new venue. Fans of the franchise and audiences of all ages will be immersed in scenes inspired by the beloved films including walking beneath a towering Brachiosaurus, exploring the lab of genetic development, coming face to face with Velociraptor Blue, and even get a rare up-close look at the most vicious dinosaur of them all, the Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests will also be able to interact with baby dinosaurs, discover and engage with actual fossilised dinosaur bones. 📍 Battersea Power Station 💰 From £147.50 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages (though it has intense moments) 🎟️ Book via feverup.com Paradox Museum Photo: Paradox Museum Located just over the road from Harrods in Knightsbridge, Paradox Museum London invites families into a surreal playground of optical illusions and interactive rooms built to test their perceptions and spark creativity. With over 50 installations on offer, which have all been designed to blend science with imagination, it’s a tactile and highly-Instagrammable experience that's suitable for all ages and sure to delight kids. Some of the museum's most popular exhibits include Zero Gravity, which gives the illusion of floating in space, the Paradox Sofa, where guests legs and torso appear to be split in two, the Camouflage Room, and an upside-down version of a London Underground platform, in which it looks like guests are hanging from platform signs. For the summer, Paradox Museum is getting a Tropical Paradise makeover, which will see the museum be transformed into a summer haven, complete with themed exhibits, neon decorations, exotic plants and birds, colourful summer updates to key rooms like the Infinite Cosmos and Park Room, new photo moments in a beach-themed entrance and a 3D optical illusion swimming pool in the main event area. On top of all this, there's also a new Passport Safari Game, offering kids the chance to take part in a hands-on, scavenger-style adventure. Young explorers can follow the clues, complete the stamps, and solve playful puzzles as they navigate the museum’s most mind-bending rooms. The game will be available as an optional add-on for all visits throughout the summer. Photos: Paradox Museum The Paradox Museum is an innovative venue that combines the world of science, art and human perception. With over 50 amazing, paradox-inspired exhibits, Paradox Museum offers more mind-twisting, eye-tricking experiences than any other edutainment destination in the world! On this self-guided experience, you will learn everything about the exciting science behind paradoxes, have a ton of fun and take photos so spectacular that your friends will not believe they’re real. 📍 Knightsbridge 💰 From £80.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via feverup.com Race Across The World: The Experience Image: Race Across The World - The Experience Race Across The World: The Experience, based on the hit BBC series, is the latest city-wide treasure hunt experience from CityDays. While the TV series this experience is based on has competitors racing for 50-plus days across multiple countries with little more than a map, a GPS tracker, and several thousand pounds to pay for travel, lodging, and food, this new London-based race runs anywhere from 2 to 4 hours and sees those taking part cover roughly 5km on foot through Central London. Staples of the BBC series - including budget management and navigating without a map - have been carried over and make up the core experience, which feels like the closest adaptation of the TV series possible without requiring a passport or more than an afternoon of your time. The fast-paced format and sense of discovery built into Race Across The World: The Experience keeps kids engaged throughout, and the focus placed on looking at the city in a different way means they're interacting with the streets and sights of London with a (hopefully) more considered view. Small details that you'd otherwise walk past without giving a second thought need to be studied, quiet backstreets and passageways that you never knew existed need to be explored, and with the clock ticking the entire time, there's a real sense of urgency throughout. Photo: Race Across The World: The Experience This high-stakes experience will offer players the chance to live out their Race Across the World dreams by navigating the streets of London, working as a team, outwitting their competitors, and unlocking hidden secrets of the city in an unforgettable race to the finish line! Just like in the show, Race Across The World: The Experience requires strategy, teamwork, and quick thinking, as players will be given a budget to manage as they race through the city. This budget can be spent on valuable clues to help navigate the next leg of the journey, giving players the freedom to decide how daring they want to be. It's a high-stakes race against the clock, where every decision counts and influences the race, but beware, each clue comes at a cost. Players will be scored based on their time and how much budget they have left, with their final score ranked on a live leaderboard throughout the day and week. 📍 Liverpool Street 💰 From £130.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via feverup.com For more on London's best immersive shows (both family-friendly and not), check out our Current/Upcoming Listings page.

Photo: Cleopatra: The Experience This March, Cleopatra: The Experience will make its UK debut and open its doors at Immerse LDN, Excel London Waterfront, for a strictly limited 15-week run. Covering 3,000 square metres and featuring nine interactive galleries, this unique experience takes visitors on a captivating journey through Ancient Egypt as they discover the reign of Cleopatra, her story and the legacy she left behind. Developed in collaboration with historical curators and Egyptologists, and endorsed by British Cleopatra expert, Dr Chris Naunton, the exhibition uses the latest projection technology to bring the world of Cleopatra to life, with a whole new level of creativity, immersive storytelling and engagement. Photo: Cleopatra: The Experience Entering through the setting sun - a symbolic representation of the end of Ancient Egypt with Cleopatra as its final queen - visitors will relive the full story of the Ptolemaic Dynasty through an educational hologram presentation. From the arrival of Alexander the Great and the founding of the dynasty to the final days of Ancient Egypt, the exhibition showcases the complete historical arc of the Ptolemies, providing essential context to the life, reign, and legacy of Queen Cleopatra. The experience continues with a walk through history in the free-roaming Metaverse space. Here, visitors will put on their Alternate Reality goggles and explore the catacombs of Alexandria, get up close to Alexander the Great’s coronation at the Siwa Oasis and step inside Mark Antony’s tent during the Battle of Actium, before entering Cleopatra’s royal chamber to witness her gazing out over the Bay of Alexandria and the Lighthouse. Photo: Cleopatra: The Experience In addition to groundbreaking technology, the experience will also showcase a curated selection of over 22 original artefacts from the Hellenistic and Late Egyptian periods. Presented in collaboration with the Felix Cervera Archaeology Gallery in Barcelona, the collection includes terracotta sculptures, bronze deity figures such as Isis and Osiris, glass mosaic fragments, cosmetic vessels, and a previously unpublished group of demotic papyri. Visitors will then enter Cleopatra’s private chamber: a space inspired by the royal palaces and designed to evoke the grandeur of Cleopatra’s world. Stand before her interactive mirrors and watch as Cleopatra comes to life, unveiling the secrets behind her allure, iconic makeup, hairstyles and the symbolism that they held in Ancient Egypt. From there, discover the fascinating city of Alexandria with its historic buildings displayed on a vast interactive map. The experience is enhanced with 5D sensory elements, including atmospheric scents, and culminates in a spectacular video-mapping and sound show projected onto a five-metre-tall recreation of the Lighthouse of Alexandria - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Photo: Cleopatra: The Experience The penultimate gallery places visitors into a vast 360-degree, 8-metre-high cinematic video mapping room, where the latest advancements in projection mapping allow visitors to soar over the city of Alexandria and witness the queen’s coronation before entering the enigmatic Temple of Isis and pass through the Library of Alexandria before reliving Cleopatra’s alliance with Julius Ceasar, her love story with Mark Antony and finally, the epic final Battle of Actium which sealed her fate. The 90-minute+ exhibition concludes with a full-motion seated Virtual Reality experience, allowing visitors to experience the earthquake and catastrophe that sank Alexandria under the sea, followed by the search for Cleopatra’s tomb. Explore submerged ruins, forgotten temples and sphinxes before entering the Temple of Isis to witness Cleopatra’s burial ritual. Photo: Cleopatra: The Experience Educational and exhilarating in equal measure, Cleopatra: The Experience sets a new benchmark for creative and technological storytelling. Designed with children, families, culture lovers, technology thrill-seekers and history enthusiasts in mind, it’s certainly not to be missed. Dr Chris Naunton, British Egyptologist, writer and broadcaster, and official ambassador for Cleopatra: The Experience, comments: Cleopatra is one of the most well-known characters from the ancient world, and there is no question that she became pharaoh at a very difficult moment for Egypt, but managed to survive despite multiple threats. This new exhibition does a superb job of presenting the archaeological and historical evidence in a way that transports the visitor to the Egypt of Cleopatra’s time. It tells the story of her life and legacy in such a way that you feel as though you are living it with her. As an Egyptologist, I believe it’s vitally important that we reach new audiences and use technology and experiences that people are familiar with, giving us the chance to inspire and engage many thousands of new people. I am very proud to be the official ambassador and spokesperson for Cleopatra: The Experience. Cleopatra: The Experience will run at Immerse LDN near Customs House station from 26th March 2026. Tickets are priced from £25.00 for adults and £20.00 for children. To learn more and sign up for the waitlist, visit cleopatraexperience.co.uk.

Some of the world’s most innovative and ambitious artworks will go on show at the Wales Millennium Centre as part of the first-ever Annwn Prize exhibition, running from 27th May to 26th June 2026. The first global award celebrating excellence in immersive storytelling, the Annwn Prize’s inaugural shortlist features four groundbreaking works from France, Greece, the UK and the USA, each pushing the boundaries of how stories can be experienced. Chosen by a panel of international curators and commentators, the works on display invite audiences to explore four incredibly varied experiences through augmented reality, branching film, expanded cinema and interactive theatrical installation. Commended for their bold originality, emotional depth and innovative use of technology, the four shortlisted works are: Colored / Noire by Novaya Visitors equipped with augmented reality headsets and bone-conduction audio systems are transported to 1950s Alabama, at the heart of the civil rights struggle. The experience allows participants to relive, as if they were there, the courageous act of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who, nine months before Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus. Consensus Gentium by Karen Palmer Audiences are immersed in a near-future society where freedoms erode under biased AI and surveillance. As the protagonist, participants navigate a government Global Citizen App to visit their sick Nana whilst subjected to tests that measure compliance or dissent. Using facial detection and AI, the film reads users’ expressions and decisions in real time, creating a unique, personalised journey. Constantinopoliad by Sister Sylvester An expanded cinema work that gathers its audience for an act of collective reading. A response to the archive of the poet Constantine Cavafy, the work is inspired by the blank and torn out pages in “Constantinopoliad, an epic”, the journal the teenage Cavafy began when he and his family fled Alexandria. A journey through lost and missing archives over time, and the ghosts, both erotic and historical, that visit the older Cavafy in his poems. NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) by Andrew Schneider An interactive theatrical installation where the audience steps into total darkness and becomes the centre of a shifting constellation. Guided by an unseen narrator, participants journey from complete sensory deprivation into a precisely programmed matrix of nearly 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel soundscape. Part meditation, part exploration, the work draws visitors into a hyper-focus of the present, tracing every decision they have made leading them to that precise moment. The winner of the Annwn Prize 2026 will be selected at the exhibition by an independent panel of industry experts and well-known faces and announced on Sunday, 14th June 2026. The Prize, launched by Wales Millennium Centre and produced with Crossover Labs, will be awarded to the best example of compelling storytelling and immersive artistry. Graeme Farrow, chief creative and content officer at Wales Millennium Centre, said: The Annwn Prize was established to celebrate the very best in immersive storytelling and to provide a platform for trailblazing artists to reach new audiences. By bringing the shortlisted works to Wales Millennium Centre, that's exactly what we’re doing. These extraordinary works showcase how this developing artform can resonate with us in new and powerful ways. We can't wait for audiences to explore and experience these works here this spring. By bringing these award-winning works and artists to Wales Millennium Centre, the exhibition presents a major moment in the global arts calendar. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience Thea Award-winning Colored / Noire (Novaya), SXSW XR Experience winner Consensus Gentium (Karen Palmer), winner of the INTER:ACTIVE Award at CPH:DOX 2025 Constantinopoliad (Sister Sylvester) and NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) from OBIE award-winning Andrew Schneider altogether. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday. 6th February 2026. Each experience lasts up to an hour and, when booking all four together, tickets are valid for a whole month - perfect for a day out or spreading the experience across several visits. Between shows, visitors will also be able to explore the dedicated onsite Annwn Prize Zone to discover more about the programme and to connect with fellow visitors and share their experience. Supported by Peter and Janet Swinburn, the winning artist or studio will be awarded £20,000 along with a bespoke residency to support the development of new work. Wales Millennium Centre is dedicated to exploring new ways of telling stories using immersive technology and celebrating creators working at the intersection of art and technology. In 2022, the centre launched Bocs, a dedicated space for immersive experiences and extended reality (XR), and in 2024, unveiled plans for a forthcoming, cutting-edge and digital-first performance venue as part of a continued commitment to the future of creativity in Wales. To find out more about The Annwn Prize, visit annwnprize.com. Tickets to experience the shortlisted work can be booked via wmc.org.uk.

Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak has been a mainstay of London's immersive landscape since first opening in August 2022. An open-world experience packed full of interesting characters, off-kilter technology and enough content every season to justify multiple visits, it's gained a cult following of fans, multiple awards, and most importantly of all, a string of eight consecutive 5-star reviews from Immersive Rumours. With the conclusion of their upcoming season, The Great Undoing, Phantom Peak's Canada Water home will be no more, as the experience prepares to relocate to a new site at Westfield Stratford City, which is due to open in Summer 2026. Ahead of The Great Undoing's opening, we sat down with Phantom Peak's Co-Founder and Creative Director, Nick Moran, to discuss the show's new Westfield Stratford City venue and what's in store for the townsfolk in Phantom Peak's final season at Canada Water. Immersive Rumours: Hi Nick! Thanks for speaking with us today. It’s a big week for Phantom Peak, with your new venue in Westfield Stratford City having just been announced, and the final season at Canada Water - The Great Undoing - opening on Friday. How are you feeling going into this week? Nick Moran: Obviously, even though Phantom Peak is moving on to a bigger and better venue in an incredible location, closing a venue is always an emotional undertaking. It's been three and a half years of my life, and this is the final four weeks of this venue. A month from now, it’ll be done. I am, of course, billions of years old, and I'll be here when there is nothing left apart from dust, but even so, this small scratch upon my interminable existence does mean something to me in the grand scheme of things. Immersive Rumours: Phantom Peak’s move to the new site has been in the works for a while now. Why does Westfield Stratford City feel like the right fit for the show? Nick Moran: It’s the busiest shopping mall in Europe and has over 58 million visitors a year, which is an incredible number. Westfield Stratford doesn’t just work with anyone, and the great thing about them is that they're not just a faceless landowner. The team there came to Phantom Peak; they love the show, understand what Phantom Peak is and how exciting it is to have something like it within the walls of their mall, so it's a natural partnership. They’re also just great, great guys who’ve been really helpful and generous to us. We’re not just another thing for them; we’re something they’re personally excited about, and the people involved at Westfield Stratford want us to flourish and be somewhere that we can be with for years to come. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Immersive Rumours: Westfield has made a real effort to make Stratford City into an experience hub in recent years. They’ve already got the likes of Gravity Max and F1 Box there, and of course, Westfield London in White City is soon going to become home to a new experience from Wake The Tiger. What do you think this says about where London’s experience industry is in 2026? Nick Moran: I think it's a recognition of how the sector is growing and maturing. For Wake The Tiger and Phantom Peak to be partnering with Westfield is a great signifier for the sector that we’re reaching maturity and reaching the mainstream. It’s a stamp of approval, and I think it shows that this is where the experience economy is moving. Leisure and retail aren’t separate anymore; they’re all intertwined. People want to go out, have fun, and then shop and eat. It’s all part of the same ecosystem of entertainment, and that’s what’s so exciting. With us, what I’m excited about is imprisoning people in a platypus town for four hours and making them have fun. Otherwise, I will kill them. [Nick looks over to Phantom Peak’s Head of Marketing, Jonathan Taylor] Nick Moran: Jonathan demands that I threaten the audience three times during this interview. One down, two to go... Immersive Rumours: Alongside the announcement, you’ve shared a number of renders showing off the designs for the new Phantom Peak. Anyone already familiar with the Canada Water site will look at it and still recognise it as the same town, but structurally it’s a complete redesign. Nick Moran: Yeah. It’s a complete redesign. In the current Phantom Peak venue, we only have the Old Town and the New Town. In the new Westfield Stratford venue, we’re going to have Old Town, New Town and Blacklake, which is the new lakeside area. Every component that you love and expect is there. Nothing is gone, but everything is better. That’s the goal. For example, there’s going to be a large Church of the Cosmic Platypus. That’s something we always wanted but couldn’t do in the Canada Water site. People love the Miramaze. I don’t know why, but people love it. Therefore, there’s going to be a Miramaze that’s twice the size. Not many people get the privilege of having a second go to get it all right. This is what we want the town to be, and it’s built around what we’ve learnt works, all of our learning from things that didn’t work, and these are the things we want to double down on. We want to have more exploration, more spaces, more verticality, and more of a sense of wonder and discovery. All these things are being put together, all under one roof. That’s one of the key things we’re getting to do that’s really exciting. We’re getting to fix all the little things and build on the big things we know people love as well. It’s the opportunity to build on every single thing that we’ve seen people fall in love with and make it better. It’s been an opportunity to ask ourselves, ‘How do we take what we’ve learnt over the last four years and turn that into the best experience an experiential customer could have anywhere in the world?’ We want to be world-class and make sure no stone is left unturned. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Immersive Rumours: With all this change, people will be relieved to hear that the show’s ongoing storyline is going to continue at Westfield Stratford City and that the core experience of Phantom Peak will remain the same, right? Nick Moran: Yeah. The move isn’t going to alter much. Perhaps the closing ceremony will shift times here and there, and opening times might change a little, but it’ll all be minor tweaking at the edges. It’ll be 99.9% the same experience. The goal is to take what works and build on it, rather than fundamentally changing the experience. Immersive Rumours: One new element that you’ll be building on is the addition of a bar that’s open to the public 7 days a week. How do you anticipate having that new gateway into the show’s world will play out? Nick Moran: Being able to have an experiential bar area open seven days a week is a chance for the average person to come and get a sense of what it is and maybe think about coming down when they've got the gang or their family together. Often, people say that they really like the idea of Phantom Peak, but they want to get a taste of it before coming. The experiential bar elements of the new site are going to be the equivalent of a tiny piece of paper with the perfume on in an upmarket department store. It's going to be still within the world of Phantom Peak and have the same feel and vibe as the full experience, but it allows people to get a little taster, and for those who love the show and want to be in the world of Phantom Peak and meet their mates for a drink, it lets them be a part of that world every day of the week. They don’t have to be at a show; they can dip into the world at their own leisure. It's about extending the world of Phantom Peak, allowing more people to sample it, and at the same time, creating extensions of the world for the people who love it already. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Immersive Rumours: We’re also getting a new three-tier VIP experience at the new venue. What can you tell us about that? Nick Moran: Yeah. One of the things you can see in some of the concept images is the train carriage by the Town Square. This’ll be the VIP way of arriving at Phantom Peak. It’ll be an experience that’s led by Rexford and allows you to experience entering the town via train in a different way from everyone else. It’s a mix of being a fun activity and also a cocktail experience at the same time. Previously, we’ve flirted with the idea of VIP experiences, but never really done it properly. We couldn’t make a really good VIP experience at the current Phantom Peak, apart from it just being getting a drink on arrival, and we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t something we were just slapping on top and calling a ‘VIP experience’. We wanted to do something measurable, worthwhile, different and ultimately better. It should feel experiential, exciting and unique, and arriving into Phantom Peak by train, I think, is something that’s really exciting. There’s also going to be different classes on board the train, too. We’re going to have First Class, Second Class, and you can also book in Postal Class, where you’re technically just a package. It’s also your choice on how you book it, but it’s something that genuinely offers people value, makes people feel welcome, and makes them feel like an important person. Or a very important package if you’re post. The ‘P’ can be many things.. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Immersive Rumours: When The Great Undoing was first teased, many seasons ago, there was some worry from fans of Phantom Peak that it may have signalled the end of the show. With this move to Westfield Stratford, it seems like a pretty clear signal that the opposite is happening and Phantom Peak is here to stay. Nick Moran: The only way Phantom Peak stops is if I die, and I can’t die; therefore, it’ll continue. It’ll still be here when you die, four seasons a year, forever. Immersive Rumours: It’s upsetting to know that the show will outlive me, as there will be new trail cards that I won’t have.. Nick Moran: But yes, this is a long-term lease. It’s a permanent home for us. Phantom Peak grew about 20% in attendance last year, which, in this economy, is pretty incredible. We expect to keep growing, keep attracting new customers, keep bringing more people into the world of Phantom Peak who feel a part of it, and keep people coming back. The goal is for a Phantom Peak life cycle to be a decade with 10 years of stories. We could continue forever; there’s nothing to stop us carrying on, but I think 10 years is really the thought right now. Part of the reason we’ve searched so long for a permanent home, somewhere that we feel can support us for years to come - and we believe we’ve found that home in Westfield Stratford City - is because we believe in the future. We believe in the experience economy, we believe in location-based entertainment, and we believe in immersive and experiential entertainment. We believe that’s what people want to spend their money on, and that Phantom Peak is the best value ticket in London. We’re proud of that, and we want to keep growing and offering people a lovely time, because that’s what the privilege of the job is. Being able to do something that makes people happy is a privilege, not a right. Photo: Alistair Veryard Immersive Rumours: Ahead of the new venue opening, of course, we’ve got The Great Undoing, the final season at Canada Water. Can you walk us through how this season is going to work and how it differs from a regular, full-length season? Nick Moran: Yeah. The Great Undoing is slightly different from a normal season because, unfortunately, we have a little bit less time than we would like, so it’s a season within a season. We’ve got four new trails alongside seven trails from Wintermas that are being smashed together. Each of those four trails is specifically about The Great Undoing, which is the end of Phantom Peak as people know it. It ties up quite a lot of things that have been going on for quite a while and offers, we think, quite a satisfying conclusion, but non-conclusion to where we've gotten to. We’re proud of what those stories tell and what those stories are about. For all of the things that have been teased for a long time, including the various characters who have come back, we’re really drawing a line under this venue that’s neat and satisfying and offers a lot of comfort to the fans. It’s easy to think of Phantom Peak as just a series of stories and gags, but in my mind, because these characters have existed long before the show did, they're all individual people with lives, and it’s about trying to give them the send-off they deserve just as much as anything else. No matter what happens in the future within the next venue and beyond, it’s about everyone feeling like we respected the amount of love given to those 15 characters across the last few years, and everyone has their earned moment, even if it’s short, in the sun. It’s a very bittersweet feeling, and something we have struggled to articulate, but I think we’ve got the balance right between joy and sentimentality within the closing ceremony and allowed the trails to have room to breathe and be stories that’ll make people think, ‘I feel like that was meaningful.’ Photo: Alistair Veryard Immersive Rumours: One final question for you, Nick... The new venue in Stratford is going to have a boat ride, right? Nick Moran: Yes. It’s going to have six. Immersive Rumours: Six boat rides?! Wowadoozle. Nick Moran: And what's amazing is they’re vertical boat rides. It's technology that no one has ever seen. There's a massive waterfall in the centre of town, and the boats go along, and then they ratchet onto the waterfalls - there’s a series of cogs and mechanisms built into it - and people get taken up. The whole time, there are four different speakers on every side of the boat, and there's just the sound of me screaming as loud as I can the whole time. It's a volume that’s unsafe, like genuinely unsafe. I got the EU to tell me what the safe standards were and then added 11 decibels, which is a lot of decibels. It's going to be an extremely upsetting, horrific time, and I hope we sell no tickets. [Editor’s Note: Phantom Peak has no plans for a boat ride] Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak's The Great Undoing runs at their Canada Water venue from 30th January to 28th February 2026. Their new venue in Westfield Stratford City will open in Summer 2026. For more information and to book tickets for The Great Undoing, visit phantompeak.com

Photo: Pexels A legendary story from the mythical world of Ancient Greece is being brought to life at an unusual venue in Nottingham next month. Apple of Discord is the latest immersive production from the pioneering and critically-acclaimed theatre company Chronic Insanity, who are based in the city. Artistic Director Joe Strickland aims to provide an experience that rivals the production values of London-based immersive shows from companies like Punchdrunk, but with affordable ticket prices and with local performers at the heart of the magic. Chronic Insanity is an award-winning theatre company and has been staging work in Nottingham since 2019, with a diverse portfolio that includes immersive theatre, hybridised digital and live performance art, a streaming platform for Fringe theatre, and more. They regularly take radical new writing to Edinburgh, tour nationally, and most recently have released a storytelling card game based on one of their most successful shows. Their 7-year track record has seen them produce innovative immersive experiences on a variety of scales, and they've previously worked with industry giants such as the BBC, BFI, and Nottingham Playhouse. Apple of Discord will take place in the Grade II-listed People’s Hall in the heart of Nottingham City Centre. This stunningly preserved, 18th-century townhouse has three floors, with an ornate central staircase, cellars and subterranean caves. The site has had many uses over the years, including a working men’s club, a textile training school, and a meeting place for the fraternal lodge - ‘The Antediluvian Order of the Buffalo’. Rich in history and dripping with character, it is an ideal location for an interactive production. Photo: Rachael Halaburda This new and dramatic experience depicting the Trojan War will take place over multiple rooms in the building, with a cabaret in the main hall, static exhibitions in other rooms, and live immersive and interactive performances to transport audiences along the way. Visitors can grab a drink, enjoy cabaret performances and watch scenes and stories unfold around them, or they can tackle quests and solve puzzles themselves, and even talk to the Ancient Greek characters. They will also be free to move between different levels of engagement at their own pace and tailor their own experience of the legendary story of Troy. Speaking on Apple of Discord, Joe Strickland says: For the audience, it’s not about seeing all of it necessarily. The point is to immerse yourself in a new world, and know that around every corner there’s going to be something interesting to do, to see, and take part in if you’d like to. Strickland has intentionally pitched Apple of Discord as an accessible and affordable alternative to the usually expensive world of immersive theatre. The industry has a reputation for eye-watering ticket prices, not to mention the additional costs of travel, food and accommodation for anyone outside London. By comparison, Apple of Discord will offer 3-hour tickets for £30 and 2-hour tickets for £20. With cheaper travel costs for people living close to Nottingham, and the wealth of food options in the city centre, the experience will be much more affordable than events in the capital. Strickland says: We are trying to create something that is often inaccessible financially and geographically to people in the East Midlands. Our mission is to widen participation in this exciting form of theatre. The people of this area deserve to experience this wonderful art form. There’s no question that ‘Apple of Discord’ will be the ‘must-see’ show in Nottingham this Spring. Apple of Discord runs at The People's Hall in Nottingham from 30th March to 5th April 2026. Tickets are priced at £30.00 for the three-hour experience and £20.00 for the reduced two-hour experience. To find out more and book tickets, visit universe.com

Image: cirqueSaw For immersive fans, one of the few shining lights to emerge during the lockdowns and closures of 2020 was the rise of digital, at-home experiences. In the UK, recognisable names from the world of immersive, including Secret Cinema and Swamp Motel (nowadays they've dropped the 'Motel' and just go by 'SWAMP'), launched Zoom-based experiences that both thrilled and entertained, and for a while, the requirement to live in roughly the same geographical location as creators to experience their work faded away. In the years since, the quantity of digital-focused interactive experiences on offer has waned, but a select few companies have proudly carried on creating online-only work. cirqueSaw, which is made up of Nathan Leigh and Nicola Orabona, first launched in 2021 and has produced several notable remote theatre productions, including Void Main and POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness. As part of 2026's From Home Fest, and fresh off the back of winning an IndieCade award, their rat-focused production labRats returns following previous work-in-progress performances across 2024 and 2025. In this browser-based remote performance, audience members take on the role of numbered laboratory rats and complete a series of cognitive tests to both earn treats and avoid 'the zappies'. Following the rats' discovery of a key, participants escape from the confines of their cages and are set loose to explore the wider facility. Image: cirqueSaw Throughout labRats, lab technician Mallory (played via audio by Orabona) issues instructions, guidance and warnings to the pack, while Leigh acts as stage manager, overseeing the show's interface. The entirety of labRats runs off a custom-built platform that's used across all of cirqueSaw's shows, and allows the audience to interact with the show's world and communicate with each other via an in-built text channel. Freshly equipped with neural implants that allow each rat to understand human voices and communicate with each other, the opening 15-minutes of labRats involves each participant responding to simple questions around colours and shapes to calibrate the system. With Mallory's instructions telling them to answer the same as their group (each rat is assigned one of four colours at the beginning of the experience), some hastily put-together plans are made by each group through the in-show text chat in the hope of receiving a treat. While there's an element of competition, with each group pitted against each other in an attempt to earn treats, there's little variety or challenge to these tasks once each group has established their game plan. Later in the experience, the rats find themselves freed and able to explore the facility, which comes by way of an ASCII-inspired map. There's an impressive number of rooms to inspect, each with wildly different features inside. From 2D arcade-style minigames complete with scoreboards and puzzles, to text-based adventure games and pre-recorded pastiches of silent films, it's clear that every corner of labRat's laboratory has been designed to be as distinct and unique from one another, and that for better or worse, there's far more content than any one audience member can experience in one session. Image: cirqueSaw Whether or not the freedom offered to audience members' rats in the show's second half lands for you is going to depend on how comfortable you are with directionless exploration. By design, there are no explicit 'objectives' to complete, nothing directing you towards a set end goal, and very little to reassure you that the path you're on will lead to a proper conclusion. In simple terms, labRats lets you do whatever you want, and doesn't hold your hand as you do it. It's up to you and your fellow rats to create your own experience. Those happy to explore the facility without a set goal in mind will find that the breadth of things to do can more than occupy their time. During our playthrough, we only scratched the surface of everything on offer, but digging through some cupboards unlocked some traumatic memories that our rat had tried to repress, the tunnels and drains below the facility provided a seemingly endless labyrinth that had us well and truly lost, and we uncovered a sideplot involving Nanbots that would require a whole other playthrough to get to the bottom of. For many, their go-to plan will be trying to escape the facility. labRats is more than happy to accommodate such desires, but coordination and teamwork between the rats will be required. During our session, roughly 18 other rats were running amok around the facility alongside us, making any progress towards that goal made by any one individual a hard thing to keep track of. At times, the free-roaming portion of labRats felt like unorganised chaos, to the point where several participants commented in the chat that they were unsure what they were supposed to be doing, and any information shared by others was quickly lost in the fast-moving in-world chat. Image: cirqueSaw With a surprising amount of narrative depth, endless pathways available for exploration, and the freedom to forge your own story, labRats offers up an experience that's happy to bend around your own will. For many, the amount of freedom on offer may leave them wishing for a tighter, more focused narrative, but that looseness feels like a deliberate choice rather than a shortcoming. It's an experience that's more interested in giving you the tools to create your own story, rather than forcing you down a predetermined path, and responds to your choices, regardless of what they are. ★★★½ labRats runs until 7th February 2026. Tickets are free of charge, with donations encouraged. To find out more and book tickets, visit cirquesaw.com

Set to run at The Drayton Arms Theatre on Old Brompton Road from 16th to 22nd February 2026, The London Lovecraft Festival returns for its sixth edition and this year will feature five interactive shows. Opening the festival on 16th February is The Cat’s Court Case Of Ulthar, one of two new pieces of work from Leo Doulton (Associate Creative Director of The Key of Dreams and Creator of The Uncanny Things Trilogy), who returns to The London Lovecraft Festival after last year's sold-out The Estate Sale of Randolf Carter. Doulton's second show, Iä Azathoth: In Pursuit Of Oblivion, will take place on 17th February. Speaking on Leo's involvement at the festival, and the two new pieces of work being presented this year, London Lovecraft Festival Associate Director, TL Wiswell, commented: I became interested in Leo’s work after seeing his Uncanny Things shows, in which people engage with eldritch beings in a ritual way, which led to his being commissioned to create a new show for the London Lovecraft Festival last year. This time he proposed two ideas, one comic, one grim. I felt both provided ways for fans of Lovecraft’s work to do more world building activities - or world destroying - and I was unable to say no to either of them. His works can feel like games but to me at their core they are about making the reality we live in more exciting. Following Iä Azathoth: In Pursuit Of Oblivion on the 17th February is You are the Sacrifice by Hakan Akgül (who presented their interactive monologue piece, If You Think I Should Make Better Life Choices, Turn to Page 42, at Voidspace Live 2025) & Joe Stepney. TL Wiswell comments: [Performer/writer] Hakan Akgül was great at Voidspace Live 2025, really drawing the audience in and making our decisions seem critical to the storytelling process. When he and Joe Stepney proposed an ancient Mesopotamian human sacrifice as a theme for a show, I was all ears. I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Later that week is Riley Gene's A Song for the Vanished, which riffs on Lovecraft's short story 'The Music of Erich Zann'. TL Wiswell said the following about how the show came to be part of the festival: I was working with Jack Aldisert (of Deadweight Theatre) on a panel, and asked if he knew anyone who’d like to make something fresh for a one-night slot at the festival. Zann is one of my favourites, and the team he introduced to me is cooking up something I know people will enjoy. And finally, rounding off the festival's interactive line-up and the festival itself, is The Dunwich Horror: An Opera from Vulcanello Productions. A reimagining of Lovecraft's short story of the same name, the show is an atmospheric experience set in near-darkness. I’m trying to keep the plot twists a bit secret, but the idea is that people will experience the fear and isolation of being in the town of Dunwich while the horror is happening, and yes there will be opportunities to involved, but I’m not saying what. And although I’m calling it an opera, nothing is going to be in an opera style; it’s more of a soundscape and storytelling with music. It’s going to be an hour in the dark, a bit like a radio play but more of an emotional experience. No ultradimensional being will be harmed during this show - well, except for Wilbur Whateley, but he had it coming. More information on The London Lovecraft Festival's interactive line-up is below.. The Cat’s Court Case Of Ulthar by Leo Doulton “Honourable members of this court… and the prosecution. Apparently, I stole a dangerous book. The Necronomicon, did you say? My my, you’d have to be clever to steal that. And apparently, I then left it in a student bar for any idiot to find. Oh, someone did? I’m devastated, I’m sure. But this trial is absurd. As the defence will tell you, I am just a normal housecat - though an unusually handsome and cunning one - and all I want is to drink milk and walk free. Miaow.” We are recruiting for the trial of an (allegedly magic) cat. You will serve variously as magistrates, jurors, prosecution, defence, and the press, interviewing, debating, and bribing your way to victory - or even justice. Join this absurd interactive comedy court case, featuring Leo Doulton (as an arrogant cat), you (as the court and its officials), and a truly surprising amount of milk (as milk). 📍 Drayton Arms Theatre 💰 From £18.00 🕒 16th February 2026 🎟️ Book via thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk Iä Azathoth: In Pursuit Of Oblivion by Leo Doulton We all know the world is broken. Worse than broken: irreparable. Infested. We need oblivion. You are coming here tonight to summon Azathoth, to burn this world with the force of a thousand suns. Because none of it matters. Tonight, we will summon him. Some of us will map the things we must destroy. Some will debate the ancient texts on how to end it. And all will shun those who abandon the cause. Join me, as we guide this world into the fire. Enter a reflective interactive ritual about what matters, and what doesn’t. For everyone who’s failed to find meaning. Join us for the first collaboration between creator Leo Doulton (Creator, The Uncanny Things Trilogy; Associate Creative Director/Writer, The Key of Dreams; winner of the London Lovecraft Festival New Writing Prize 2025), creative consultant Nicole Jacobus (Production Manager, Bridge Command and Beggars49), and you. 📍 Drayton Arms Theatre 💰 From £16.00 🕒 17th February 2026 🎟️ Book via thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk You are the Sacrifice by Hakan Akgül & Joe Stepney The omens are dire. Pestilence has struck these lands. You have been summoned to Court where, according to tradition, a new king will be chosen who will rule for the next 100 days. Will it be you? And, if so, are you willing to pay the price? You are the Lamb is a new interactive play which asks the audience how far they would be willing to go and what they would sacrifice to save themselves or each other. Winner of the 2026 London Lovecraft New Writing Award 📍 Drayton Arms Theatre 💰 From £18.00 🕒 17th - 18th February 2026 🎟️ Book via thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk A Song For The Vanished by Riley Gene An online post prompts an attempt to enter a mysterious dimension, confront enigmatic entities, and resolve the fundamental disharmony of human souls in this interactive ritual of desperate determination. 📍 Drayton Arms Theatre 💰 From £18.00 🕒 19th February 2026 🎟️ Book via thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk The Dunwich Horror: An Opera by Vulcanello Productions A rural town. A dark summoning. A hunger that destroys all. Can you survive the Dunwich Horror? Performed in near total darkness, The Dunwich Horror: An Opera is a soundscape of life in an isolated village being terrorised by a force it doesn't understand. With flute, theremin, and the human voice, Jen Hazel's original score will bring you into HP Lovecraft's tale with a strong seasoning of American vernacular music of the 1920s. Storyteller Laura Sampson and experimental musician Sam Enthoven return from the Dreamlands shadow puppet shows alongside TL Wiswell. Do you dare enter a world of party line phones, dusty grimoires, and extradimensional beings with a thirst for blood? In the end, your voice may be needed to set Dunwich free. 📍 Drayton Arms Theatre 💰 From £20.00 🕒 22nd February 2026 🎟️ Book via thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk The London Lovecraft Festival runs at The Drayton Arms Theatre near Gloucester Road and South Kensington between 16th and 22nd February 2026. For more information and to book tickets, visit londonlovecraft.com

Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak, the UK's leading open-world immersive experience, has announced that it will open a new venue in London’s Westfield Stratford City in Summer 2026. First launched in 2022 at their Canada Water venue, Phantom Peak has since welcomed over 160,000 visitors with a high 25% repeat rate and received critical acclaim from press outlets and overwhelmingly positive guest reviews. In recent years, Phantom Peak has been named the best Immersive Experience globally by blooloop and won the prestigious TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award in 2024 and 2025 consecutively. The experience has also featured in Immersive Rumour's Best Shows of 2024 and 2025 lists. Phantom Peak offers an immersive experience that allows guests of all ages to lose themselves in a fully immersive town filled with interesting characters, interactive quests to complete, and carnival & arcade games to enjoy. The whole experience is tied together with an ongoing story that evolves and moves forward with a change of season every 3-4 months. The ongoing story of Phantom Peak, which began with the show's first season, will continue at the new Westfield Stratford City venue, with the experience expanding to hold more guests with a multi-level, accessible venue with three distinct areas for guests to explore: Old Town, the Town Square & Lakeside. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Each district includes characters to meet, unique technology to interact with and a distinct world to explore. Old Town is the underground industrial mining town - the heart of Phantom Peak’s industry. The Town Square is a more modern area with impressive, multi-floored buildings, including a Town Hall and the in-world bar, the Thirsty Frontier Saloon. Lakeside is, as the name suggests, set around an indoor lake. At its centre will lie The Watermill with its iconic water wheel. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Alongside the upgrades to the physical set of Phantom Peak, the new venue will bring technological upgrades to enhance the magic & storytelling of the immersive experience. The custom-made ‘wingman’ units, designed by Tandem Set & Scenery, will power each character space. These units allow characters to trigger lighting, sound, and physical effects within a local area - creating magic & wonderment in the moment, for a small number of guests at a time. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery The entry to the experience will also be upgraded with a new three-tier VIP experience option. These premium options will see guests take a seat on a train carriage for a unique, personalised entry to the town. For others, they will descend the stairs into the Old Town, where the gates will open, and they’ll be free to roam the vast space. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery Alongside the core Phantom Peak experience, a fully themed bar will be open 7 days a week. This will allow guests to take a seat and enjoy speciality cocktails and great food, or wander down into the town and explore a unique area with arcade and carnival games. Image: Phantom Peak/Tandem Set and Scenery The expansion into Westfield Stratford has been made possible after an investment into The League of Adventure, the group behind Phantom Peak, by a leading European private equity investor. This investment brings together LoA’s three companies - Phantom Peak, Tandem Set & Scenery, and Spectre & Vox - under one group as a new live experience creative studio powerhouse. Media and entrepreneurial veteran Wil Harris has been appointed as Group Managing Director to oversee its expansion. Co-Founder and Creative Director Nick Moran said: We’re thrilled to be bringing Phantom Peak to the iconic Westfield Stratford City in Summer 2026. After more than three exceptional years of overwhelming public support and enthusiasm, it feels like the perfect moment to introduce the Phantom Peak experience to such a prestigious destination. As a completely original British IP in the immersive and competitive socialising space, Phantom Peak has been built around bold world-building, shared discovery, and unforgettable moments. This next chapter marks an exciting evolution of the brand - and we can’t wait to welcome even more guests into the town and create an experience that blows them away, time and time again. Photo: Alistair Veryard Wil Harris, Group Managing Director of The League of Adventure, said: I'm delighted to be joining League of Adventure at such an exciting time for Phantom Peak. Partnering with our new friends at SenSee will allow us to move forward quickly, not just with our new London venue, but with multiple new projects around the world and in the digital space. In a sector where so much of the immersive entertainment produced is based on legacy IP, we’re excited for the potential to develop this original IP into an exciting and expanding world. Constantin Weismann, Director of Leasing, Northern Europe at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: Phantom Peak is exactly the kind of experience that reflects how consumer behaviour is changing. Our most recent How We Shop research shows that nearly half of UK consumers are actively seeking more immersive and entertainment-led experiences when they visit physical destinations, with that expectation even higher among younger audiences. Bringing Phantom Peak to Westfield Stratford City strengthens our entertainment offer and highlights the growing role of experience in driving footfall, dwell time and long-term relevance for retail destinations. Photo: Alistair Veryard Simon McCaugherty, Director of Experience Economy at London & Partners, the capital’s growth agency, said: We’re delighted to welcome Phantom Peak as our newest partner. It’s a standout example of a London-grown immersive experience, built in Canada Water, loved by audiences, and now scaling boldly into Westfield Stratford City. Phantom Peak signals the strength of the experience economy, showing how original ideas can drive regeneration, attract investment, and reinforce London’s position as the global city for unique immersive experiences. Immersive Rumours sat down with Phantom Peak's Co-Founder and Creative Director, Nick Moran, ahead of the announcement to discuss the final season of Phantom Peak at their original Canada Water site, and their plans for the new venue in Westfield Stratford City. You can read our interview with Nick here: Phantom Peak's new Stratford venue will open in Summer 2026. For more information and to sign up for future updates, visit phantompeak.com/stratford

I Do (2013) Photo: Ludovic des Cognets Later this month, site-specific theatre company Dante or Die will begin a UK tour of I Do, their acclaimed production set across six rooms of a working hotel. Split into small groups, audiences move between rooms, uncovering fragments of a tangled family story as they become voyeurs to a series of intimate, overlapping stories; from old flames and hidden pregnancy tests, to a best man’s speech collapsing under pressure, every glance, touch, and whispered secret counts. We recently caught up with Daphna Attias and Terry O'Donovan, Dante or Die's Co-Artistic Directors, to discuss the return of I Do, their approach to creating site-specific work, and what the rest of 2026 has in store for the company. IR: Hi Daphna and Terry. Thanks for speaking with us today! To kick things off, do you mind telling us a bit about Dante or Die’s approach to making work? Daphna Attias: I don't feel like we have a set methodology. I know the themes that we're interested in, and I know that sites excite us, but we don't have a set way of working, and they can take a lot of different forms. Sometimes they're not even shows, they’re installations or video podcasts or interactive films. We either start with a site or space, which could be a café, a self-storage building or a hotel room, or we start with a topic that interests us, then we take it apart and put it together in a different shape. Usually, we match the site and the idea. It can also start with an article we read, or with a song that we hear, or with a question that we have about life. The starting point can always be different, but we interrogate questions around it, research around it, experiment with different spaces and where that topic, issue or question lives. In the case of I Do, it was relationships and weddings. When we created this show 13 years ago, we asked ourselves, ‘Why do people get married?’ It was very personal to us at the time, and we thought about where we could have lots of different types of relationships in a microcosm of exploration. We chose those really tense 10 minutes before a wedding, and we placed it in a hotel where we could meet people in a really intimate, really close space. Terry O'Donovan: I don't know if it's a methodology, but one thing we always put at the centre of our work is the human within a space or story. It's very much looking at the human existence within something generic like a hotel. Every room that is occupied has a story and emotion behind it all. It's the same with our screen work, it's anti-Black Mirror in a way. We've gone ‘Where’s the emotion and love within a phone screen?’ How does it affect us emotionally and psychologically? That's one of the things that connects all of our work. Daphna Attias: Our work for screen is very much us looking at the screen as a site, and our phones as a place we go to. For years, we made shows in real working places, but realised at some point that people's real working places became virtual. It encouraged us to examine those as our sites of work, but it feels like the same process. User Not Found (2018) Photo: Dante or Die IR: When you’ve got a physical site for your work, it’s often in real-world spaces. I Do takes place inside a working hotel, and as you said, Daphna, you’ve previously created work set in operating self-storage units, cafes and leisure centres. What is it about these spaces that’s so appealing, over building a set like a lot of other creators do? Terry O'Donovan: I think that proximity to the actual space and the performers that you encounter within them has a little bit of a trick to it, because you go ‘Is this part of it? Is it not part of it?’ It’s reframing a space that often people might overlook as somewhere that can be filled with story, emotion, connection and magic. If you're in people's local leisure centre, for example, they might go swimming there in the morning, or do aqua aerobics there, and then suddenly they'll see a performance happening in that everyday space. That's something that we really enjoy exploring. Daphna Attias: It's really strange. When we made Take On Me, there was a scene which involved nudity in the changing room. There's always nudity in leisure centre changing rooms, but it was quite a big deal for audience members, it was like 'What?! One character was naked in the changing rooms!' It's taking a familiar thing and shining a light on it so you see it in a different way, theatricalising an everyday space. Take On Me (2018) Photo: Richard Budd IR: As part of your 20th anniversary, you’re remounting I Do, which you debuted back in 2013. Why did that feel like the right piece to revive for this anniversary year? Daphna Attias: It’s a few things. Firstly, it’s a really joyful show, and we really, really needed a joyful show. We really missed it. We missed the feeling of it. It's like going to visit a familiar house or a familiar person that you haven't seen for a long time. I Do, for us, was the moment that a few things changed gear. It was when we found the connection between the form, the site, and the story to be the most satisfying. It's the first time we collaborated with a writer, and we were really trying to push a story forward. Before that, I don't think we were as successful in terms of telling a story in such an emotionally resonant way. It’s also a complicated show, and we just wanted to see if we could do it again! Terry O'Donovan: Yeah, I think what you said about coming back to something that was a gear shift for us as artists is true. We devised the show for a year before Chloë [Moss] came on board. We'd been to the halls of residence at the University of Reading and spent a week there with 12 actors devising and figuring out how this form might work, and we did a sharing of that in Reading Malmaison back in 2012. After that, we said, ‘Okay, it's got the right shape’, but we didn't feel like the dialogue was as sharp as we wanted it to be, and we knew that we could go further. Lucy Morrison at the Almeida Festival connected us with Chloë, and we presented her with an Excel spreadsheet of like, ‘This is where all the actors need to be at these different times’, because it's all devised based on that. She brought in these other ideas that we would never have thought about in terms of story and brilliant, brilliant dialogue. It was a really great collaboration that I think pushed us off into another area that we hadn't been exploring as much as before. So when we thought about celebrating something or bringing something back - which we've never done before - we both just said, ‘I Do’. Video: Dante or Die IR: How has your relationship with the show changed since it was first created? Do you view it differently now, with another decade of living under your belts? Daphna Attias: It's been an interesting process for Terry, Chloë and me, because we wanted to keep the essence of the show as it was, but also figure out who we are now and what we want to change. On a really practical level, the world has changed massively. The way we are with technology has changed. The 2013 version had a line that said, ‘Oh, the kids got me an iPhone. Everyone's got one these days,’ and sure - we had dating apps back then - but Tinder was invented the year before, so it wasn't as used as it is now, and there definitely wasn’t such a variety of dating apps. We were also younger, and in the middle or beginning of our relationships. Terry had just got married. I had just given birth to my second child, and Chloë was pregnant when we wrote it. Terry O'Donovan: Yeah, we were the age of the bride and groom and best man, and now we're between the parents in that group. Daphna Attias: It changes your perspective on relationships and what's important and what might and might not work. We’ve kept the core of it the same, but we've added a few things that we felt were missing and changed a few things that we felt didn't quite work well enough. Terry O'Donovan: We've definitely pushed a couple of characters to places that maybe we wouldn't have been able to back then, because we didn't understand that we hadn't lived that life yet. Particularly the father of the bride, that’s a lot meatier than it used to be. There's a pregnancy test involved, and there's a more specific reason for that, and we really thought about that differently. I Do (2013) Photo: Ludovic des Cognets IR: For those looking to come to I Do, what role does the audience take on during the show? Terry O'Donovan: We love playing with an audience. I think I Do is a really fun experience as an audience member, because you’re not asked to do anything. You're literally a fly on the wall. But for us as performers, we’re really in amongst you, and you're kind of implicit within the action despite not being part of it. If anyone's wondering about coming - it's a lot of fun. IR: You’re currently in rehearsals for I Do with a brand new cast. How has that experience been, and have there been any unexpected discoveries once you’ve been running through it with the cast? Daphna Attias: It was a really interesting audition process for us, as we had to throw away everything we know about these characters and invite new things into the room. It's always a joy to have a new cast. They have new opinions and new thoughts about things. We've been doing workshops every morning around how to behave with an audience or how to turn the lights on quickly or how we touch each other in the show. We came a lot more prepared in terms of, ‘Hey, team, this is the language that we're sharing.’ So they then have enough space to be playful within it. Whereas when we made it the first time around, we were inventing it as we were going. I couldn't have done these workshops because I wouldn’t have known what they would be about. Terry O'Donovan: Yeah, for some of the scenes, you're searching for something that you kind of remember in your body or your mind. It's a question of how do you articulate to these people who weren't around when we did it last time. I'm sharing the role of the cleaner with a 20-year-old performer in this - it’s her first professional experience. She said to me recently that it was really good to be able to watch me do one section because she could hear Daphne saying something but couldn't imagine it. She said ‘When I saw you do it, I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I get it now.’ But to be able to articulate it would have been really difficult because we found it through devising. When you find something through devising, you're doing exercises, you're not thinking about what actually has to get done. So then to remount it has real challenges in that way, for that stuff that's not spoken. There's a lot of physicality in the work that may be written on the page, but that doesn't quite lift off the page unless you play with it. I Do (2013) Photo: Ludovic des Cognets IR: Finally, looking forward to the rest of 2026, have you got other big plans for Dante or Die’s 20th anniversary once this run of I Do concludes and is in the rearview mirror? Terry O'Donovan: It’s interesting that you say ‘in the rearview mirror’... Daphna Attias: Yeah, that’s a good analogy! Terry O'Donovan: We're making a new piece of work that's for the screen but also an installation. It’s called Driving Home, and it's about migration and immigration in UK towns and cities right now. It's going to be a documentary that includes animation, and we're going to meet five taxi drivers from across the UK, and create a piece that looks at how it feels in the UK right now. It'll tour as an installation in a black cab, so we'll be blacking out the windows of the cab, be driving it up into the middle of a town or into a shopping centre car park, and people can come in and experience the documentary in an immersive way. The front windscreen will be a close up of a rearview mirror where you see the taxi driver's eyes, and the windows will show the streets of the UK from each of the taxi drivers' places of residence. That's our next big piece. We're going to be filming it in May, putting it together over the summer, and hopefully premiering it sometime in August or September. Funding depedant.. Dante or Die's I Do will run at London Malmaison near Barbican station from 20th January to 8th February 2026, before heading to Reading Malmaison for performances from 11th to 14th January and Manchester Malmaison (Picadilly) from 18th to 22nd February. Tickets are priced from £35.00 for London, and £25.00 for Reading and Manchester.

Photo: Katie Edwards DARKFIELD, the producers of innovative, immersive experiences at the forefront of technology and theatre, are returning to Lincoln for the first time in two years, presenting their critically-acclaimed shipping container show ARCADE from Friday 13th to Sunday 22nd February 2026. DARKFIELD were last in the city in 2024, when they presented EULOGY to much excitement and acclaim. The producers of pioneering immersive theatre that involve 360-degree binaural sound, complete darkness, and a variety of sensory effects will pop up at The Lawn, Lincoln, with their newest trademark shipping container, inviting audiences to join them on a mysterious journey… Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic Using the nostalgic aesthetic of 1980’s video games, ARCADE’s interactive narrative explores the evolving relationship between players and avatars. Over 30 minutes, players will guide their avatar through a world ravaged by endless war: you can choose a side, win or lose the war, search for a peaceful route, or join a cult promising a better version of reality. Players will ask themselves difficult questions as they navigate a world where some will win, and others will lose. No two journeys through the experience will be the same. ARCADE premiered to acclaim and sold-out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024, before a blockbuster 2025, which included sell-out runs at BFI London Film Festival and Manchester’s Aviva Studios, and extensive residencies at both Shoreditch Town Hall and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Photo: Katie Edwards Ahead of ARCADE arriving in Lincoln, DARKFIELD commented: We had a great time presenting EULOGY in Lincoln in 2024, so we are delighted to be returning with our newest show, ARCADE - our most ambitious show to date. We can’t wait for audiences across the city to experience it, and we hope they enjoy exploring the world they are immersed in, exploring the many pathways in the show, and hopefully returning to discover new paths! ARCADE will run at The Lawn, Lincoln, as part of Frequency Festival from Friday 13th to Sunday 22nd February 2026. For more information, visit frequency.org.uk

Photo: The Crystal Maze Experience The Crystal Maze Experience is kicking off 2026 with a splash with the launch of its highly anticipated Ocean Zone, a brand-new environment that answers years of fan requests to bring the iconic TV show’s underwater world to life. Now open at the London venue, the Ocean Zone plunges guests into an adventure beneath the waves. Victorian-era submarine aesthetics meet fantastical deep-sea exploration, as teams navigate a vessel where brass instrumentation and vintage exploration equipment contrast with the eerie blue glow of the ocean depths beyond. Photos: The Crystal Maze Experience The adventure begins as players descend through a submarine entry hatch onto the vessel's command bridge. Here, they'll find themselves surrounded by the tools of underwater navigation (from working periscopes to aged maritime charts) before venturing deeper into the craft. Throughout their journey, digital porthole windows reveal the mysterious waters outside, while the submarine's connected chambers guide teams through a series of challenges where split-second decisions and group coordination are essential. The launch of the new zone marks the beginning of what promises to be a landmark year for the attraction, offering newcomers and dedicated fans alike a fresh reason to take on the Maze. Matthew Stubbs, Head of Creative at Little Lion Entertainment, said: The Ocean Zone has been one of the most requested additions from fans of the original show, so we wanted to honour that while creating something that feels entirely new. Every detail has been designed to add to the experience’s sense of immersion and excitement, with challenges that test teamwork, timing and decision-making like never before. It feels unmistakably like what regular guests of the Crystal Maze have come to know and love, but brought to life through a new lens. The Ocean Zone continues The Crystal Maze Experience’s legacy as the original immersive team challenge, evolving the beloved Maze format while staying true to what made it iconic. The Crystal Maze Live Experience runs at 22-32 Shaftsbury Avenue. Tickets are priced from £79.00 per person. For more information and to book tickets, visit the-crystal-maze.com

Photo: Ludovic des Cognets Marking the 20th birthday of Dante or Die, the company’s hugely successful immersive hit I Do returns for a brand-new tour across the UK - reimagined for a new decade of love, secrets, and celebration. It will run at the London Malmaison from 20th January to 8th February 2026 as part of Barbican's Scene Change season, before heading to sister Malmaison hotels in Reading (11th to 14th February) and Manchester Deansgate (18th to 22nd February). Photo: Ludovic des Cognets Set in a working hotel, I Do invites audiences to step inside six rooms where the final moments before a wedding unfold in parallel, each a jigsaw piece revealing a different view of the same tense moment in time. The best man’s speech is collapsing under pressure, the bride is torn between nerves and expectation, and family secrets ripple through the corridors. Split into small groups, audiences move between rooms, uncovering fragments of a tangled family story as they become voyeurs to a series of intimate, overlapping stories; from old flames to hidden pregnancy tests. Every glance, touch, and whispered secret counts. Photo: Ludovic des Cognets Created & conceived by Daphna Attias and Terry O’Donovan, with text by Chloë Moss, I Do is a celebration of the beautiful mess of human connection - an intricate portrait of love and fear, told through Dante or Die’s signature blend of intimacy, detail, and cinematic theatricality. The full cast is Geoff Atwell (Gordon), Alice Brittain (Lizzy), Fred Fergus (Nick), Manish Gandhi (Joe), Dauda Ladejobi (Tunde), Carla Langley (Georgina), Jonathan McGuinnes (David), Johanne Murdock (Helen),Tessie Orange-Turner (Abigail), Terry O’Donovan / Rowena Le Poer Trench (The Cleaner) and Fiona Watson (Eileen). Photo: Ludovic des Cognets Dante or Die's I Do runs at London Malmaison near Barbican station from 20th January to 8th February 2026. Tickets are priced from £35.00. To find out more and book tickets, visit barbican.org.uk.