This summer, Underbelly Soho welcomes back Fringe Fix, bringing a hand-picked selection of the boldest, funniest and most talked-about shows from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to its iconic Soho venue from 1st to 26th September. Transforming Soho into a post-Fringe playground, the season is packed with award winners, cult favourites and future breakout hits across comedy, cabaret, theatre, improv and musicals. The programme features an eclectic mix of acclaimed productions including Woody Sez, a celebration of the life and music of the legendary Woody Guthrie; 2ShoulderPads: GALAXY TRAIN, the Spirit of the Fringe award-winning Japanese musical that transforms the simplest of costumes into a world of boundless imagination; and Operotica, a wildly inventive blend of opera, cabaret and comedy that journeys through the past lives of history's horniest souls. Also featured is the Fringe Fix Wild Card, a place in the programme reserved for an as-yet-undiscovered Edinburgh Fringe breakout, offering audiences the chance to buy a ticket to a mystery show and discover the festival's next must-see hit before anyone else. Continuing Underbelly’s long-standing reputation for championing the next big Fringe success stories before they break out, the season also features Burning Down The Horse, an immersive comedy that places audiences inside the legendary Trojan Horse; CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation, the long-running improvised murder mystery where neither audience nor performers know the killer's identity; and Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, the internationally acclaimed drag extravaganza celebrating the People's Princess through drag, multimedia, audience interaction and queer joy. Also featured in the season are the award-winning absurdity of Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over Again For An Hour, the fast-paced solo spectacle Never Let Go: An Unauthorised Retelling of James Cameron's Titanic, and the cult favourite Jill's Tupperware Party, an interactive comedy-horror blending retro suburban camp with B-movie terror. Comedy lovers can catch some of the Fringe's most distinctive voices, including Stefania Licari's sold-out Fringe hit I Can Make You Italian in 55 Minutes, a hilarious crash course in Italian culture and identity, and Britain's Got Talent Golden Buzzer winner Ted Hill's PowerPoindexter, a high-energy mix of stand-up, visual effects and absurdly funny presentations. FULL PROGRAMME BELOW: • Burning Down The Horse (7pm, Tue 1 Sep) – After two sell-out Fringe runs, Burning Down The Horse gallops to London! Prepare for ‘a complete riot of an hour’ (Everything Theatre) and become part of this ‘infectiously funny’ (FringeReview.co.uk) immersive comedy epic that drops you into the heart of history’s most iconic wooden animal -the Trojan Horse. • 2ShoulderPads: GALAXY TRAIN (8pm, Wed 2 Sep) – Inspired by Japanese classical literature, 2ShoulderPads is a poetic musical. Blending humour, music and Kabuki-inspired physical theatre, it explores life, death and human connection, taking audiences from laughter to tears. Following a sold-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 run, this ‘innovative, imaginative and deeply moving’ (The Reviews Hub) production is not to be missed. • Never Let Go: An Unauthorised Retelling of James Cameron’s Titanic (7pm, Thu 3 Sep) – This uproariously queer one-man show from Michael Kinnan takes you back to the ‘Ship of Dreams’. Distilling the three-hour epic into 60 minutes, the play takes you through the fateful romance of Jack and Rose while the most devastating man-made disaster in modern history looms. Making his London debut after premiering in 2022 to rave reviews in Edinburgh, with nothing but a stool, a bench and the famous necklace, Kinnan plays every role himself. Featured in The Telegraph’s 60 Best Shows to See. • Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over Again For An Hour (9pm, Thu 3 Sep) – One man. One song. One hour. Equal parts comedy and live art experiment, winner of Melbourne Fringe Spirit award, Australian comedian Conk takes to the stage and sings the same song over and over again on repeat for an entire hour. That’s it. Which song? You’ll have to come and find out. What begins as a simple musical premise of singing the same hit song over again spirals into a hilarious feat of absurdity. • Penelope (7pm, Fri 4 Sep) – After waiting twenty years for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War, Penelope is finally ready to tell her side of the story – though she may need a drink first. Starring Broadway's Grace McLean, this contemporary chamber musical reimagines one of history’s greatest epics through a Richard Rodgers Award-winning folk-pop score. Sharp, witty and unexpectedly moving, it’s The Odyssey as Penelope always meant it to be told. • Raves R Us (9pm, Fri 4 Sep) – When Toys'R'Us closes its doors for good, Charlie and his friends are left jobless, broke and struggling to find their place in a fractured Britain. With nowhere left to turn, they set out to create something new: an abandoned warehouse transformed into a sanctuary, an escape and, ultimately, a rave. Following sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Vault Festival, and five appearances at Glastonbury Festival, the show that turns into a rave is heading to Underbelly Soho. • An Evening with Dame Granny Smith (7pm, Sat 5 Sep) – Winner of the Best Variety Award at Adelaide Fringe 2025 and the Frank Ford Prize at Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival, this award-winning character comedy arrives at Underbelly Soho following sold-out runs at the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe. The world's most celebrated apple, Dame Granny Smith, reflects on a remarkable life in show business, from her vaudeville debut at age five to her breakout role in 'Snow White', with trademark wit and irreverence. Brought to life by acclaimed ventriloquist David Salter, this delightfully absurd show is warm, funny, uplifting and unexpectedly moving. Hailed by Glam Adelaide as 'a show you'll remember for many years to come', it's a joyful hour of wit, nostalgia and theatrical magic. • Woody Sez: The Life & Times of Woody Guthrie (7pm + 2 & 3pm matinees, Tue 8 – Sat 19 Sep) – This production explores the story of the man widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in American folk music, Woody Guthrie. Described by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as ‘the original folk hero’, Guthrie transformed the folk ballad into a powerful vehicle for social commentary, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire generations. • Belly Laugh (8.15pm, Wed 9 Sep) – Underbelly’s Belly Laugh! brings a fresh, fast-paced night of comedy to the Studio at Underbelly Soho, featuring a professional MC, headline act and a handpicked line-up of rising talent from London’s thriving comedy scene. Inspired by Underbelly’s Edinburgh Fringe roots, the evening offers audiences the chance to discover the next generation of comedy stars in the heart of Soho – all for just £5. • Mothman: A Romance Musical (9.30pm, Thu 10 Sep) – It’s 1943 and the Nazis are winning. Fortunately, America has one last secret weapon: a super soldier. Unfortunately, a moth has found its way into the machine. This absurd musical comedy follows the unexpected rise of a mutant hero as he transforms into the one thing nobody saw coming – Mothman. Written and performed by Alex Franklin and Nikola McMurtrie, Mothman is the romantic comedy musical nobody asked for, but everyone needs. Nominated for The Nest New Writing Award at Brighton Fringe 2026. • Jill’s Tupperware Party (9.45pm, Fri 11 Sep) – Prepare for an interactive comedy-horror that invites audiences into a seemingly perfect suburban world where plastic lids click into place and smiles never falter. Blending retro camp, B-movie horror and dark comedy, the show follows an afternoon where sales records, hearts and even bones could be broken. Think The Stepford Wives meets Mars Attacks! in this delightfully twisted pastel fantasy. • Ted Hill: PowerPoindexter (9.30pm, Sat 12 Sep) – From Britain’s Got Talent 2026 Golden Buzzer recipient and finalist Ted Hill comes a wildly inventive comedy show from the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show nominee (2024) and creator of three consecutive British Comedy Guide Recommended Shows (2022, 2024 and 2025). Step inside Ted’s wonderfully chaotic mind for an hour of high-energy stand-up, ridiculous visual effects and surprisingly funny graphs. Always a little bit strange, Ted now finds himself facing a brand-new puzzle to solve in what promises to be his silliest slideshow yet. • CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation (9.30pm, Fri 18 Sep) – CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation is a fully improvised, rip-roaring crime comedy that has enjoyed multiple five-star sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Who? What? How? The choice is yours. No one knows who the killer is, not even the cast! Join this witty and absurd murder mystery from the Winners of The Comedy Award at Colchester Fringe 2024 and the Best Improvisation Award at Leicester Comedy Festival 2023. • Operotica (8pm, Tue 22 & Wed 23 Sep) – Classically trained, fetish-approved and as of yesterday, dead. Join psychic extraordinaire Séayoncé for a journey through Operotica’s many past lives. From star-crossed nuns to 18th-century ladies-in-waiting, these theatrical reincarnations reveal the true purpose of history’s horniest souls. From the UK’s premier kinky opera duo, witness a haunting that will tear down the opera house and transport you through time. • Stefania Licari: I can make you Italian in 55 minutes (8pm, Thu 24 Sep) – This is your chance to become Italian in under an hour! After sold-out seasons at Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe, award-winning comedian Stefania Licari returns with her hit show. Expat, ex-medic, and proudly Italian, she’s been hailed as ‘Sicily’s answer to Sarah Millican’ (FringeReview) and praised for her ‘star quality’ (Latest TV). • LEMONFACE (8.15pm, Thu 24 Sep) – LEMONFACE arrives in the heart of Soho, bringing together some of the best comedians and clowns from across the globe for a brilliantly unpredictable night of alternative comedy. Showcasing bold, inventive performers and a fresh take on the comedy circuit, this is a night packed with laughs, surprises and, of course, lemons. Line-up to be announced. • Alfie Brown: The Entertainer (7pm, Fri 25 Sep) – Award-winning comedian Alfie Brown brings his brand-new show to Underbelly Soho. Written and performed by a man in crisis and searching for meaning, the show explores what gives life value in an age where technology makes everything easier. Sharp, thought-provoking and relentlessly funny, it promises an evening of entertainment so compelling you may never need amusing again. Brown is the winner of the Chortle Best Show Award 2022 and was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award the same year. • Diana: The Untold Story (9pm, Fri 25 Sep & 3pm, Sat 26 Sep) – Do you know the story of Diana? Probably. But do you know our story of Diana? We doubt it. Join Diana in heaven as she shares her extraordinary tale. This unique and loving celebration of Di has won multiple awards and sold-out venues across the world. From the Awkward Prods; the duo behind Gwyneth Goes Skiing, Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella and The Fit Prince, this show is as hilarious as it is ridiculous. • Wild Card (7pm, Sat 26 Sep) – The Fringe hit you didn’t see coming...Every year, one show rises from the chaos of the Fringe and demands to be seen. Wild Card holds a place in the Fringe Fix programme for a show - as yet undiscovered - to be selected in real time from the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Take a chance and buy a ticket to a mystery show that could change your life. Be the one to say, ‘I saw it first!’ • Abandoman: Afterglow (9pm, Sat 26 Sep) – Abandoman is back – and this year, it's a party. Blending hip-hop with euphoric dance music, Rob Broderick's award-winning improvised comedy show turns your suggestions into original bangers, live and unrepeatable for one night only. Razor-sharp wit, genuine warmth and unstoppable audience interaction make this one of London's most joyful, unpredictable nights out. On top of the Theatre and Studio programme, Fringe Fix is taking over the whole building with a full programme of free live music events in the Bar. More info will be available online closer to the time. Fringe Fix will run at Underbelly Soho from 1st to 26th September 2026. For more information and to book tickets, visit underbellyboulevard.com

This immersive musical ode to Scotland’s wildflowers will have its world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe this August. Photo: Somhairle MacDonald Acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter and composer Siobhan Wilson presents the world premiere of FLOWERCORE, an immersive and intimate gig theatre show exploring under-told tales of Scotland’s wildflowers through music and projection. Across 60 minutes, Wilson and special musical guests including Niamh Corkey and Charm of Finches play the notes of Scotland’s untamed spaces and soils, alongside an immersive projection by Double Take Projections featuring videography by Ewan Grant (Edge Photography). The projection features illustrations, video and photography by a range of artists working in the Scottish landscape - including Libby Walker (Landscape Artist of the Year finalist 2026). From pop songs with instructions on how to grow a wildflower meadow to cinematic arrangements of songs inspired by daffodils, snowdrops, herb-roberts, and primroses, FLOWERCORE sews together a diverse palette of songwriting techniques and textures within the composition. The genesis of FLOWERCORE traces back to a personal wildflower diary kept by Wilson while soul-searching in the Scottish countryside alongside her dog McTavish. The diary includes thoughts, lyrics and a gallery of sketches of the flowers she discovered. These observations eventually blossomed into a series of musical recordings of the same name as the show, which have shaped the tactile staging and presentation of the work as a fully grown stage show. Singer-songwriter/composer Siobhan Wilson grew up in Elgin, Scotland. A trained cellist, singer, composer and pianist from St Mary’s Music School of Edinburgh. Siobhan has 15 years of live music performance and studio-production experience internationally, including in New York, Paris, Budapest and Scotland. After a five-year stay in Paris, she returned to Scotland, where she has since been touring internationally, writing, performing, composing and producing soundtracks for highly acclaimed film and television productions. Siobhan has also been nominated for awards in her video game scoring and songwriting. Her solo albums have been played extensively across national and international radio and have been shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY Award), drawing attention from the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine and BBC Radio’s Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6 Music). Siobhan Wilson's FLOWERCORE will run at Basement at The Gilded Saloon (Venue 44) from 17th to 22nd August 2026 at 15:00. For more information and to book tickets, visit edfringe.com

Sleepwalk Immersive have announced the cast for their debut show - Bacchanalia, an immersive retelling of The Bacchae by Euripides. Set to open later this year at CRYPT in Bethnal Green, each show will see an audience of just 40 audience members explore the space with six performers. Take a trip to the city of Thebes, where King Pentheus believes he has everything under control - that is until his divine cousin Dionysus turns up seeking revenge on the family who have expressed doubt about this upstart god’s status. Witness first-hand the clash between mortals and the divine. You will ask yourself … do you deny a god? The creative team behind Sleepwalk Immersive includes Sebastian Huang as Artistic Director, Ruth Howard as Movement Director, Maya McQueen and Peter Broughton as Associate Directors and Madeleine Houghton as Executive Producer. The cast features Jordan Ajadi (The Burnt City), Ruth Howard (Sleep No More, The Greatest Night of the Jazz Age), Christian Loveless (Phantom Peak, Tomb Raider The Live Experience), Fionn Cox-Davies (The Drowned Man, The Burnt City), Peter Broughton (The West, Phantom Peak) and Fania Grigoriou (The Burnt City, The Drowned Man). Full Cast List: Jordan Ajadi Ruth Howard Christian Loveless Fionn Cox-Davies Peter Broughton Fania Grigoriou Sleepwalk Immersive is also running a Kickstarter campaign for the show that includes rewards ranging from signed posters to show access with 'exclusive access to a one-person pre show experience'. You can back the project here. Bacchanalia opens on 12th November at CRYPT in Bethnal Green. For more information visit www.sleepwalkimmersive.com

This article was originally published in September 2023 A former theatre that dates as far back as 1937 in the centre of Camden might soon return to hosting performances after it became public that Secret Cinema has expressed interest in taking over the space to host immersive experiences. The Camden New Journal confirmed earlier this month that the current owners of the site on Arlington Road - The Rank Group, who own Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino, were ‘looking into alternative options for the site’ following a slow return of visitors attributed to COVID and the cost of living crisis. The venue has been operating as a Mecca Bingo for over 60 years and was previously home to a theatre that had upwards of 2,500 seats. The site was split into two separate venues in 1961, with the bingo hall being created in the space formally used by the stall seating. The rest of the venue became an Odeon, and half of the site is still being used as a cinema today following a closure between 1993 and 1997. Secret Cinema was reportedly looking for a permanent space in London after being acquired by TodayTix in 2022 for $100 million. They would be following in the footsteps of fellow immersive theatre company Punchdrunk, who moved into a permanent venue in Woolwich back in 2019. Secret Cinema will be launching Wishmas - an immersive Christmas experience later this year in Waterloo. This is believed to be their only remaining show for 2023, so those eager to be a part of the next Secret Cinema world may be waiting a while. Camden Council will consider the company's licensing application at the end of September. Update as of January 2024: Camden Council have approved Secret Cinema's application to take over the site in Camden Town and the company appear to be gearing up to launch their first production of 2024 within the venue in the not-too-distant future. Update as of July 2024: Secret Cinema has decided not to proceed with the development of the Camden venue. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates and rumours about Secret Cinema in 2025.

Next month will see the opening of Once Upon A Kingswood Christmas - an immersive Christmas experience in South London. Running from the 16th to 23rd December, Once Upon A Kingswood Christmas is set within Kingswood House - a 19th century, 32-room mansion in South Dulwich. The family-friendly immersive promenade experience is put on by Cerebrum Entertainment, who have previously mounted a version of the show at Wentworth Woodhouse near Sheffield. Cerebrum Entertainment is an immersive events company that has previously produced experiences for the likes of Universal (Halloween Ends in Piccadilly Circus) and New Line Cinema (It: Chapter Two at The Vaults). Delve into the magical world of 'Once Upon a Kingswood Christmas' and embark on a journey that will spark wonder and joy in the hearts of both young and old. Our show is a celebration of love, family, and the true spirit of Christmas. Immerse yourself in a captivating tale that will transport you to a winter wonderland like no other. Let your imagination soar as you discover the origins, traditions, and joyous inspirations behind this new and exciting Christmas Fairytale. With every moment you spend, you'll be captivated, amazed, and filled with the warmth of the holiday season. Help Bella find the Fairtyale Alliance, rescue Father Christmas from the clutches of the Snow Queen and save the Festive Season! Here's the trailer for the experience... Tickets are priced at £20 each, or £70 for 4x general admission tickets. Children under 2 years old are free. Once Upon A Kingswood Christmas runs from 16th to 23rd December at Kingswood House in South Dulwich. Find out more about the experience, and book via onceuponachristmas.uk

Following on from our five-star review of The Manikins: a work in progress, we sat down with writer/director Jack Aldisert to discuss the show’s inspiration, development, and why there will never truly be a final version of the script. Our interview with Jack Aldisert has been split into two parts. The first half is below, while the second half, which contains spoilers for the show's major plot points, will be released in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on ImmersiveRumours.com for the conclusion of our discussion. Photo: Marc Tsang This interview contains reference to several moments within The Manikins: a work in progress. We would recommend those with tickets to attend avoid reading until after their visit. Immersive Rumours: Hi Jack. Thanks for speaking to us today. We're currently sat in Crypt where The Manikins: a work in progress is being performed, and to be honest with you, it's a disconcerting feeling to be back here after experiencing the show for ourselves. How have the last few weeks of performances been and what has the audience reaction been like? Jack Aldisert: Everyone's really loved it. It's been really nice, especially because with the way the show works you're immediately talking to them about it at the end. It’s been a relief that everyone has loved it so far, and to not have been in a close quarters situation talking to them afterwards and they're not satisfied. In terms of reactions and what people take away from it, the show's so open to interpretation. There have been a few people who have taken away what I feel like I would take away from it, which is a sense of being totally overwhelmed by choice and possibility and having to make a decision amongst chaos. That’s the feeling I wanted to give people - total unreality and chaos and the idea of having to choose the right path forward when there are many paths and no one will tell you which one is right. You have to figure out what to do. I think when I feel most satisfied at the end of a show is when the person feels like they don't know what's real anymore and they feel like their own reality has been fully enmeshed with the visions of reality that the show presents. IR: You've previously cited several writers of weird fiction for the inspiration behind the show. Can you tell us about how you came across this kind of work and the impact it had on the show's creation? Jack: I was reading a lot of the philosopher theorist Mark Fisher, he has mostly written political and cultural theory, but he has one book called The Weird and the Eerie. In that book, he dives deeply into the genre of weird fiction. He referenced so many different pieces of media in that book, and it was my first time hearing about weird fiction as a genre. Jeff and Ann VanderMeer have an edited volume called The Weird and in it, he references Thomas Ligotti, who I'd never heard of and calls him something like an ‘undisputed modern master of the weird’.. He's one of the handful of authors who have gotten a Penguin Classics collection of their books while they were still alive - it's a huge deal, but I'd never heard of him, and he's so obscure, no one knows who he is. He has this style of writing that is like nothing else I've ever read. It's this crazy mix of Edgar Allan Poe-style Baroque prose mixed with super modernist experimental writing and metafiction like [Jorge Luis] Borges or [Vladimir] Nabokov. He creates these stories where a character experiences a breakdown in reality and where their reality is invaded by other horrific realities - the seemingly unreal. He uses metafictional devices to make the reader feel like their own reality is being pulled into that. For example, he has this fantastic story called Notes on the Writing of Horror: a story. It’s written as an essay about how to write horror, but then it turns into a horror story, the centre of which is the writer of the essay. That inspired the title of the show as well - The Manikins: a work in progress. As I was reading those stories, I just kept thinking that the thing he's trying to do here in a literary form of using metafiction is to reach out and pull you into it. In interactive theatre, you can actually do that. You could take some of the techniques that he uses in a literary form and actualise them, making it so that they are actually happening to the audience member. If it's done right - a piece of immersive theatre can take the audience member's own sense of reality and make it one of those layers within the fiction. That is a success to me when the participant feels like their reality has just become one of the many layers of reality that are part of the show. Photo: Rebecca J. Windsor. IR: Can you talk us through your experience of studying at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and how The Manikins first began as part of your time there? Jack: At the end of lockdown I was trying to choose between two Master's programmes. One was at Royal Holloway, and the other course was at Central. The course at Central is all about experimental devising, collaborative work and avant-garde stuff. It was a really, really difficult choice, but I’d had a lot of ideas about immersive and interactive theatre that I wanted to explore, so in the end that's why I chose the Central programme - I knew I would be allowed to experiment with that stuff. They encourage everybody in the last few months of the first year, to form companies on the course and then create a piece together - that's how Deadweight Theatre formed. The second year of the MFA I did was an independent project where you could really do anything you wanted, which is when I decided to do The Manikins. Really it was my MFA project, and you have to frame it as a research question, really. IR: What was the research question? Jack: Well, the thing I kept running into with immersive theatre was audience participation. In interactive work, there's always this level of disconnection because of the layer of artifice of characters being played. If you're an audience member and you're interacting with an actor who's in character, there's always a level of, for lack of a better word, embarrassment and confusion in the situation. A big part of that is that you've got a large group of people, usually other audience members, watching you interact. This factor of being perceived by a group of people is going to limit what you're comfortable doing in the interaction. Let's say there’s a wizard, I know when I'm talking to this wizard that the actor playing them sees me as an audience member who's come to the show. I don't know who the wizard sees me as, standing here in my modern clothes with a weird name suddenly appearing in this environment. It creates this two-directional pull - do I respond as a character that I'm somehow making up on the spot right now?, or do I respond as myself, which doesn't make sense because it sort of breaks the world? That plus the factor of being watched felt like the barriers to truly immersive interaction in my mind. So my research question - which I thought was an impossible question - was about overcoming those barriers. It was about how to create a method for writing, rehearsing, and performing scene work in which one of the scene partners is inherently totally unpredictable because they're an audience member. Those were the questions I was trying to approach and The Manikins formed around answering those questions. IR: When you began to explore if you could break down those barriers, what were you drawing from to begin with, and how did that help the development of the show? Jack: There's a fantastic essay by academic and author Sophie Nield, who I believe is at Royal Holloway, that's from when Punchdrunk was first doing their masked shows. She talks about that quote-unquote identity crisis that's created in the situation I described. It's a fantastic essay. The masks that Punchdrunk use - that's one solution to that problem. If the rest of the audience is masked and you're masked, the embarrassment factor goes way down. I thought, okay, how do we create a controlled environment to study that effect? Well, just get rid of the rest of the audience entirely so it's just the one participant. Remove the being watched by an audience factor entirely. Initially, I was using sources like the Ligotti stories, which are about the breakdown of reality and the breakdown of identity as content for the experiments we did as we were devising together in the room, workshopping stuff. I took a month off from the work, and during that time I had this dream. I woke up from it with a realisation - the way that you get around the identity crisis isn't by eliminating it, it's by incorporating it. You take the identity crisis inherent in immersive and interactive theatre, and you make it the core of the dramaturgy of the piece. You make the piece about the participant experiencing that identity crisis and you build the piece around that. Before that, I’d been trying to eliminate the problems. When I had this realisation about the identity crisis, it was that when we’d been testing the early fragments of the show, I had naturally found myself talking to people about the piece. 'Here's what we're trying to do. Here's my goal with the piece. This is what we're working on. This is what I'm hoping to get out of it.' At the end of what they were trying - which were the first scenes with the doctor and the secretary - I would ask them questions about how it was going. I realised that the extra meta layer I'd been saying to participants to frame the show had to be part of the show, and we use that as a device to heighten the audience's experience of the identity crisis, which will now be the core of the piece. That was the moment everything came together. From that point on, it just felt like a refinement process. Photo: Rebecca J. Windsor. IR: How different is the version of the show that existed when you were at Central to the version running now at Crypt? Jack: There's been three significant versions of the show. The first one I did as the culmination of the programme in May of last year - I didn't think there would be a life for the show beyond Central, but we got such encouraging feedback. I thought 'Okay, let's keep going with this'. One of the tutors from Central who saw that show in May very kindly offered us a space to do the show at Central for five participants over two days in November, alongside me teaching a workshop to that Master's program on making interactive work. When you're more deeply into the dream space, that has been very different each time we've done the show, but it has always ended in the spotlight in one way or another. It’s so hard to take plot threads in a show like this and tie them together effectively. All of the changes have really been about how do we make the experience more exciting and trippier for the audience member in the second half of the show, and also do that in a way that makes sense dramaturgically to tie any possible narrative threads together. I worked extensively with a couple of great dramaturgs, Harley Winzenried and Audrey Regan, over the first few months of this year leading up to the Crypt run to improve the text. IR: Do you think this version of the show is the final one, or are there still things that you would like to try and tweak as time goes on? Jack: I’ve got two answers to that. The first answer is that it's almost the final version... We've been tweaking it a little bit even as we've been running it so far in Crypt. I think there's still room for improvements in the finale section, and also in the section that comes afterwards when we're talking to the participant about the show. The second answer is, once you get into the dream zone, anything can really happen. There are so many exciting things we could pursue, and actually several of the most important and exciting moments in the second half of the show came from improvs that we did because of an unexpected audience choice in an earlier version of the show, which I then incorporated into the text. We had one participant, back when there was still a physical mannequin in the show, take the lab coat off the mannequin, put it on, and then enter the next scene as the doctor. That resulted in us doing three scenes in a row that were completely made up, including one of my favourite moments, which is when there were two doctors confronting each other, trying to figure out who was the real one. I was then looking for a way to incorporate that moment because I thought it was so much fun. The show can never really be 100% completed because there's always going to be the possibility that an audience member will do something so interesting that we then want to use it. When I was first thinking about what kind of immersive theatre I would like to make, I was reading a lot of books on dramaturgy and narrative structure in media. I was looking into classical music structure and at the idea of a cadenza in a classical concerto - where the music in the concerto is written and you're playing it note for note, but then there's a blank section of two minutes or so where the soloist plays a full improvisation, which is incorporated into the non-improvised structure of the piece. I got really into the idea of 'How do you do a cadenza in an immersive theatre piece?' and that's what I'm trying to approach with the finale. Photo: Rebecca J. Windsor. Those are the most powerful and exciting moments for me as a performer - when it feels like the performers and the participants are equally together in what's happening and are equally inside the dream space that's been created. IR: Has performing a show that plays with reality and dreams so much affected you and the other cast members as you’ve been performing it? Jack: Yeah. You totally slip into the headspace of the show. I've had moments where I'm playing myself or I'm playing the doctor, and I'm legitimately feeling like I'm in a dream. Because the last couple scenes of the show are so open to the audience member doing, trying, saying anything, some people stay really passive in that situation and some people try some crazy stuff. We had a situation the other day, where we had a participant try something really different. We were in a situation we'd never been in before, I was playing the scene, and then the show stopped and I felt very confused, very overwhelmed, and when it stopped I felt like it was still happening. I said to the other actor and the participant after the show, 'Wow, I just had the participants experience for like a good five minutes'. I was feeling what the participant must be feeling during that section of the show normally. The show, I think, has that element of a spell being cast, and there have been certain situations where the spell gets cast on the casters as well. Everybody gets pulled into this dream together, and those are the most powerful and exciting moments for me as a performer - when it feels like the performers and the participants are equally together in what's happening and are equally inside the dream space that's been created. Photo: Marc Tsang IR: We need to ask you about the set design for the show. It's basically made up of a curtain and two sets of chairs. Did it go through several different iterations during its development before you landed on this design? Jack: We’ve tried to free it entirely from naturalism. A big part of the development process has been working with the designers and collaborators to rid the show of set pieces, props, anything that was a direct, mimetic, naturalistic representation of reality so that the participant is fully creating the whole world in their own mind as they go along with it. The possibilities are limitless when you approach it that way. It was a hilarious process with the scenographer, Min Feng, who's an incredible designer. We started off looking at making walls and doors and an office. Each time I'd meet with her, we ended up taking something else out. This is definitely the best version of the set. It's so simple, it leaves everything else to the imagination. It's just light, darkness, and the curtain. I also think that the red curtain is very powerful as a symbol. It's great because it's in the space as a symbol of theatre, and the imagination element of theatre. It also provides the very satisfying action of parting the curtain and passing through it as a threshold - it's sort of a palate cleanser. Each time you go through it, it’s as if we have 30 different rooms that you're going into when really it's just one room. The curtain makes it feel like you're imagining a whole new space each time you pass through it. Even if we got a bunch of money all of a sudden, we would just stick with that one single red curtain hanging in the space. IR: We’re in a venue run by Parabolic Theatre. Similarly to The Manikins, Crypt hosted another immersive show last year that was born out of someone's studies - Bacchanalia by Sleepwalk Immersive. How has it been working with them on this run of the show? Jack: I can't speak highly enough of Parabolic, they're awesome. Everyone on the team is just the nicest people ever. When we did the show a year ago, Danny Romeo, who now writes on Phantom Peak, saw an early workshop version of The Manikins. He introduced me to Tom Black, who was an awesome participant and did some really fun stuff. He loved the show and ended up putting me in touch with Owen [Kingston, Artistic Director of Parabolic Theatre] in the fall. At the time, I had been extremely frustrated by trying to find a space to perform in that was affordable or to get someone to program us. When Owen said he was interested, I was expecting maybe like a week or two at best. We talked and he ended up offering us six weeks. That was the exact opportunity that we needed. There is literally no one else in London or as far as I know, in the UK, who would have made us that offer off the strength of a script and off the strength of his colleague having seen the show. It was such a rare and brilliant opportunity, and I'm totally indebted to them. Beth Atkinson - who is part of their team - has been stage managing the show and she's been brilliant. She's made the show so much better and more efficient by working on it. IR: We mentioned in our review that a logical comparison for people to have made when the show was first announced was with Punchdrunk. In reality, the only thing the two shows really share is 1:1 interactions. Was that comparison something you thought about when writing the show? Jack: It's an interesting one. The first Punchdrunk show that I saw was The Burnt City, and we were already well into the development of The Manikins. I've read a lot about Punchdrunk and their work, and I did finally manage to see Sleep No More when I was in New York last year, but that was also well after the show had been written. When I was still an undergrad, a mentor of mine who had worked on props at Sleep No More back in the day told me about Punchdrunk and Sleep No More. I'd heard of site-specific theatre, but I had never even heard of immersive theatre until I was probably 21/22. She told me about it and the concept just blew my mind. Then lockdown hit and I couldn't see any immersive theatre, so I had a couple of years where I was just imagining what it would be like, reading about it and imagining what is the potential, what would I want to do in that form. I knew that within Punchdrunk shows they had 1:1 interactions, and I also knew that that was what I was most interested in about what I understood about Punchdrunk. But I also knew that it was a very particular style of interaction in those 1:1s. I've only personally ever been in a single 1:1, but my understanding was that there wasn't that much room for the participant to structure the narrative in those moments or talk in those moments. In my mind, in drama and in theatre, it's the verbal argumentation that is the core of it. I was interested in trying to take what I thought were some really exciting ideas in the Punchdrunk 1:1 scenes, especially the dream-like nature of it. That was something I've always been really interested in - using theatre to recreate a dream space and a dream mentality, and I think Punchdrunk does that so well. I was interested in how could you combine that with conversational interaction, because they on their face seem to be almost clashing with each other. It would be really difficult to create a dream-like interaction if you're talking and articulating yourself heavily. But I thought maybe it might be possible. The idea of The Manikins being like a 90-minute 1:1, I totally see that as a comparison. Of course, on a technical level, and in terms of what the experience feels like, is completely different. I've seen something that Katy [Naylor of voidspace] has said about it in an interview where she was talking about the show being like the dream-like feeling of a Punchdrunk show or Punchdrunk 1:1 but with the facilitated space for full agency. --- Part 2 of our conversation with Jack Aldisert is available to read here. The Manikins: a work in progress runs at Parabolic Theatre's Crypt in Bethnal Green from 3rd June to 13th July 2024. Tickets are currently sold out, but you can visit themanikins.com to find out more about the show.

From intergalactic space missions 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 had a shortage of family-friendly activities, from world-class museums and zoos to West End shows and tourist attractions that cater to all ages. Among the hundreds of things to do on any given day in the capital are some stand-out immersive experiences that allow families to become part of the story and 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 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 allows 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 £136.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via paddingtonbearexperience.com Bridge Command (Cadet Shows) Photo: Alex Brenner Bridge Command's origins date back to 2019, when Parabolic Theatre first prototyped an early version of the experience on a shoestring budget. An instant hit among immersive theatre fans, they continued to develop the concept over the following five years before debuting this supersized version of the show beneath the railway arches near Vauxhall station earlier this year. The highly interactive experience lets guests take charge of a starship and work together in a series of missions that could see them do anything from delivering cargo to investigating distress signals or exploring uncharted corners of the galaxy. Parabolic Theatre has long been pioneering immersive experiences that respond on the fly to guest decisions, and the show features a sophisticated back-end system that logs everything visitors do so that future visits incorporate their past choices into their next adventure. Available on Fridays and Sundays through the summer, Bridge Command is running Cadet Missions aimed at those aged between 11-16. While you can expect a slightly less challenging experience, it's no less interactive. Photos: Alex Brenner Have you ever dreamed of commanding your own Starship? As the bridge crew of your own vessel, you will boldly go where no immersive theatre audience has gone before. Fusing gaming technology with theatrical performance, Bridge Command offers a variety of scenarios designed to keep the whole team fully engaged. Designed for groups of between three and six people, our fully interactive starship set will respond to your commands, and carry you beyond the final frontier.​​​ It is your job to make it so. You will be given a uniform and be part of a crew. Your ship is a complex organism that will require maintenance, you will meet a variety of characters played by live actors, and your missions will involve an array of challenges. More specifically, each officer’s station has a different set of tasks to complete. Helm officers fly the ship, engineering officers keep it running, and so on. 📍 Vauxhall 💰 From £160.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for ages 11-15 🎟️ Book via bridgecommand.space Phantom Peak - Starlit Summer Photo: Alistair Veryard Phantom Peak is a hard show to describe to people who haven't been before. It combines elements of escape rooms, immersive theatre and theme parks into a unique open-world experience that feels a lot like a real-life video game. The town is populated by over a dozen actors spread across the venue's 30,000sq ft space, and each season of Phantom Peak (it's currently on its ninth season since first opening in August 2022) has 10 brand-new storylines for guests to complete. They take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to finish and will have you interacting with both the town's residents and numerous pieces of interactive technology scattered across the town. There are puzzles to be solved, characters to interrogate, and many opportunities to improvise with the show's excellent cast of characters. Aside from the 10 main storylines, there are plenty of other things going on to occupy your time, including Platyhooks (hook a duck but with platypuses), carnival games, filmmaking contests, the Miramaze, and new for Starlit Summer, the Cabin Games. Every session of Phantom Peak is open to all ages, and the show's cast is excellent at interacting with younger guests. An ideal real-world substitute for a day of playing video games at home. Phantom Peak is a standout experience in London's immersive theatre scene. Photos: Alistair Veryard 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?!) This summer, the residents of Phantom Peak are headed to the great outdoors! Long sunny days have arrived at last, and the Sun Daddy’s light has provided a warm atmosphere for the Townsfolk to compete in exciting camp competitions! But the warmth and sunlight may be blinding the townsfolk to the nefarious machinations of JONACO, hard at work in the mines. Jonas’s powerhouse company has been developing projects in the darkest corners of town, their true intentions a mystery. Join the summer fun, explore the sundrenched canals and lakeside, and uncover JONACO’s mysterious plot before it’s too late! 📍 Canada Water 💰 From £124.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for all ages 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com AVORA: FAMILY Immersive Adventure Originally designed to be an immersive cocktail experience for those 18 and older, Avora is the latest show from Inventive Productions, the company behind Alcotraz and Moonshine Saloon. Across the summer holidays, they're hosting a family-friendly version of the show that swaps the cocktails out for mocktails and puts kids at the centre of the show. Set across three main spaces in their basement venue, it's taken a healthy amount of inspiration from the Avatar film series and is the closest thing you can get to visiting Pandora this side of the Atlantic. Guests are all given a jumpsuit to wear upon arrival that's embroidered with the logo of Roscorp - a tech conglomerate they'll be acting on behalf of during their journey. We'll leave it up to you to decide if Roscorp's true intentions for exploring far-off planets are noble or nefarious (spoilers: they're not good..), but you're there in good faith, acting as scientists on a fact-finding expedition to an other-worldly planet. There are two mocktails included in the ticket price, as well as a number of sensory games and challenges for guests aged 5-11. The new world of Avora is ready and waiting to be explored! Roscorp Enterprise, the founding company of the remarkable gateway to Avora, has yet to gain the trust of the locals and uncover all the potential of the new world. Having failed with their current crew so far, Roscorp believes children may just be the key to unlocking the secrets of Avora. Will you be lucky enough to be selected to join the crew? A journey to Avora is like no experience you will have had before, a magical and mysterious planet which evolves and changes before your very eyes. Your mission if you choose to accept is to explore this new world and uncover the secrets that lie within. You will be guided by Dr Shelly to find the hidden secrets, interact with the local Avorians to learn how they live, play games and sample some of the rare delicacies found on Avora. 📍 Hoxton 💰 From £108.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for ages 5-11 🎟️ Book via avora-experience.co.uk Enitan's Game - Punchdrunk Enrichment Photo: Ali Wright The sister company to immersive heavyweight Punchdrunk, Punchdrunk Enrichment was founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Peter Higgin with the intention of taking the innovative practice of Punchdrunk into communities and schools. The first production in their new Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores venue in Wembley Park, Enitan's Game, revolves around a game created by Enitan's grandfather, who recently passed away. The show is part immersive theatre, part child-friendly escape room, and kids are the focus of the 50-minute experience, so adults can expect to take more of a backseat. The show is co-created by Mia Jerome and Peter Higgin, written by Mia Jerome, Casey Jay Andrews, Omar F. Okai, and Simon Maeder, and directed by Omar F. Okai. Photos: Ali Wright Tucked away off a busy road in Wembley is a special place. Warm and welcoming, it’s a home for many when you are far from your own. Inside you’ll find Enitan and Ged, two friends who collect objects and stories. One such item is a game, made by Enitan’s grandfather when she first arrived in the UK. As a young girl, whenever she felt sad or homesick they played it together. It made her feel stronger and helped her grow. Now Enitan’s grandfather has gone and she needs your help to play again. Together, you’ll discover a secret world, and unlock the storyteller in you. Experience an immersive theatre show for families from Punchdrunk Enrichment in our brand-new venue. Enitan’s Game celebrates the power of shared stories, loss and community. Pick a card, let the journey begin. 📍 Wembley Park 💰 From £68.00 (Family of 4) 🧒 Suitable for ages 6-11 🎟️ Book via punchdrunkenrichment.org.uk For more on London's best immersive shows (family-friendly and not) check out our Current/Upcoming Listings page.

From family-friendly frights and creepy soirées to intense experiences that promise big scares, here are our recommendations for London's best immersive experiences this Halloween... As always, October is looking to be a bumper month for spooky immersive experiences in the capital. To help you make the most of the spooky season, we've gathered together all the information you need to make your next night out a great one. Below is our pick of the best experiences on offer across the month for those looking for various levels of frights. From family-friend spooks to intense experiences, there's something on offer for everyone's taste this Halloween, if you're brave enough... Phantom Peak - Hallowed Peak We've spoken at length previously about how good Phantom Peak is. In our opinion, this platypus-loving mining town is the most enjoyable immersive experience currently on offer in London. While it's open nearly year-round with regular updates and re-themes, Halloween is when the place comes into its own. Their Lunar Festival returns for a third year, with both previous Hallowed Peak seasons having enjoyed multiple sold-out dates. There are 10 brand new story trails available for guests to experience this season, and if they are anything like previous years you can expect to be doing anything from banishing demons to encountering haunted dolls, visiting the Undertakers for a coffin fitting, and almost certainly lending a hand to the town's resident paranormal investigators - Spectre and Vox. Brand new for Hallowed Peak 2024 is The Lunar Remedy, a cocktail experience add-on that will see guests in search of a remedy to a series of strange afflictions that are spreading among the townsfolk of Phantom Peak. In a race against the clock, guests will need to explore the town and interact with its characters in a self-guided experience that culminates with a mix-it-yourself cocktail, along with an exclusive trail card. Photos: Alistair Veryard This is an important and eerie time of year for the residents of Phantom Peak. It’s the time of year when the moon is closest to the Ridge, and Diamant begins to react in strange and unpredictable ways. Spirits rise from the grave, creatures lurk in the shadows, and the Church of the Cosmic Platypus raves in style! Expect a thoroughly original take on the Halloween traditions that made this unique event so popular in 2023! Phantom Peak is a family-friendly experience, and the free-roaming, experience-at-your-own-pace design of the show means you can take a break from the storylines at any time and pick them back up without missing anything. There's a string of other activities on offer including carnival games, the annual costume competition and multiple food and drink options. The show's creators describe Hallowed Peak are 'more spooky than scary', so it's an ideal experience for those wanting a Halloween experience that's not intense. 📍 Canada Water 💰 From £42.00 👻 Scare Level: 1/5 🕒 27th September - 10th November 2024 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com Open House: The Escape Room - Screamworks In recent years, ScreamWorks has earned a reputation for creating London's best immersive horror experiences. Their debut show, Bloodbath, launched in late 2022 and was unlike anything else on offer in the capital at the time. It pushed the boundaries and conventions of immersive theatre to an extreme and saw visitors being force-fed, tied up, undressed, and chased through an air vent on their hands and knees. Last year saw them debut The Ghost Hunt - another exceptionally scary immersive horror experience that had guests make their way through a Victorian house illuminated only by torchlight. Set within the abandoned home of the Luff family, who all met their end in bloody murder-suicide back in 1937, visitors were invited by paranormal investigator Hector Phoenix to explore the family home and discover the truth behind what really caused their horrific deaths. For 2024, they return with Open House: The Escape Room. The experience is a combination of immersive theatre and escape room elements, and ScreamWorks CEO Gary Stocker describes it as their most exciting immersive concept yet - being the culmination of everything they've learnt in the last few years. East London’s most haunted house is up for sale and seasoned 'escape agent’ Jason Shepherd has teamed up with ScreamWorks to present one of the most innovative house-hunting events of the season: Open House – the immersive escape game. What better way to explore and experience the highlights of this unique property than to be locked inside, with a delicious drink from our brand sponsor and a host of fun games and challenges to complete? This enormous Victorian mansion is dripping in history, full of characters and the perfect forever home for a young couple or family looking to take their lives to the next stage. With a bathroom to die for and a suite of bedrooms that will guarantee you rest in peace, this captivating property won’t cost you an arm and a leg! While the house has a guide price of £666k, the current vendors are keen for a quick sale and are willing to accept any offers whatsoever. Photos of previous ScreamWorks shows. Open House will run between 60 to 90 minutes depending on the type of booking made - the 90-minute experience is set to be more intense and be warned - includes moments of climbing and crawling. Those who are curious enough during the house tour may also uncover hidden paths and secrets, leading them down even more terrifying routes through the experience. 📍 Bethnal Green 💰 From £45.00 👻 Scare Level: 3.5/5 🕒 From 27th September 2024 🎟️ Book via screamworks.london Tales of the Strange The creators of Tales of the Strange are well-versed in providing great Halloween outings. For several years they ran Ghost Newington, a must-loved immersive walking tour that had visitors exploring the winding backstreets, cobbled yards and haunted ale houses of Stoke Newington under night fall. Last year saw them swap the streets of Stokey for a bricks-and-mortar venue in Haggerston with The House of Dust, which invited visitors to enjoy three supernatural cocktails as The Ghost Master took them on a twisted journey through the annals of time to a world where ghosts, murderers and ghouls were brought to life. For 2024 they've shifted down to Brixton for Tales Of The Strange. The show is a collaboration between JimJack (part of the team behind Macabre & Ghost Newington) and Vi & Sly - a design duo know for creating hauntingly creepy puppets and props. In a last ditch attempt to save his ailing career, horror writer Jeffrey Thrillerman dares you to encounter some of his twisted tales, brought to life for the first time by a motley team of actors. Housed within a haunted railway arch in Brixton, this pop-up extravaganza is part theatrical experience, part bar and wholly good vibes! So, grab a cocktail and hang with your friends as we regale you with an anthology of strange tales. What’s that? You’re feeling peckish? Fear not, we’ll have a selection of dastardly dishes available, prepared by dead-chef Danny Jack. Oh, and after the performance we wont just kick you out onto the cold streets of Brixton, no ma’am! You’ll get to hang out for the night in the tunnel of Strange. You can drink, dance, feast and frolic to the dead in style. Perhaps you’ll regale new found friends with your own tales as our house DJ’s play groovy 70s vibes. 📍 Brixton 💰 From £20.00 👻 Scare Level: ?/5 🕒 31st October - 2nd November 2024 🎟️ Book via designmynight.com Make Believe: A Halloween Grotto This Halloween season brings with it the debut show from Scarehand Productions, a new venture from Christopher Blackmore, Amy Sherlock, and David Hoskin. The company's mission is to "create boundary-pushing Halloween experiences soaked in atmosphere and scares," and with over 20 years of combined expertise, they're well-equipped to deliver. Christopher Blackmore was one of the writers for Deathcell, the much-talked about extreme immersive horror experience that returns to London in early 2025 with Deathcell: Magenta, and David Hoskin did the dramatergy and sound design for Gorgon: A Horror Story back in 2021, which BroadwayWorld described as "evocative and terrifying". If the trigger warnings for Make Believe: A Halloween Grotto are anything to go by, you can expect a claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing experience that touches on suicide, wasps and most terrifyingly of all... germs. This Halloween, cross into the Grotto—a shadowy world where innocence and nightmares collide. Inside, your deepest childhood memories twist into something darker, more menacing. What was once joyful becomes unnervingly sinister, forcing you to confront your inner fears. Not everything is as it seems, as the veil between what is real and make believe gets thinner... A 30 minute horror-filled experience, audiences are guided through eerie, atmospheric den of memories and compelled to follow the Grotto’s cryptic commands in an unnerving journey to meet your forgotten inner child. Expect interactive performances, haunting visuals, and spine-tingling surprises that will leave you questioning what is real and what is make-believe. This isn’t your typical haunted house; it’s a chilling journey of self-discovery and terror. Are you brave enough to enter the Grotto? 📍 Loughborough Junction 💰 From £15.00 👻 Scare Level: 4.5/5 🕒 25th October - 2nd November 2024 🎟️ Book via designmynight.com Kraken ScreamFest: House of Curses Kraken Rum return with their annual immersive Halloween experience, Screamfest: House of Curses. In previous years they’ve delivered knock-out events including last years Screamfest: Shock Exchange, that had guests wear heart monitors as they ventured through the corridors of Clerkenwell Catacombs, rewarding the bra rats with discounted drinks. For 2024, they’ve put together a curated exhibition of the world’s most cursed and haunted pieces of art, the experience will have guests sign a waiver before being allowed to enter the final exhibit. Enter at your own risk. To help ward off any evil spirits, Kraken are included two cocktails as part of the ticket price, which is only £10 per person. This Halloween, The Kraken is bringing a new kind of existential horror to the UK by opening what could be the world’s most dangerous art gallery. That’s because the temporary exhibition will, for the first time, bring together the most notorious haunted and cursed artworks and objects in the country, all known to have inflicted terror and suffering upon those that have gazed upon them. Accessible only after signing a waiver, the final exhibit contains one of the most haunted paintings of them all. This original piece was the centre of a 2023 media storm after it was returned to a charity shop by multiple owners who reported chills, being chased by a demonic figure and one person even having to call an ambulance after collapsing in the painting’s presence. Those who do dare enter will be granted only a short time in the presence of ‘The Unknown Girl’ before being ushered out to the safety of The Kraken Bar. 📍 Soho 💰 From £10.00 👻 Scare Level: ?/5 🕒 31st October - 2nd November 2024 🎟️ Book via universe.com For the latest news and updates on all the best immersive Halloween experiences in London this October, follow us on Twitter or Instagram 🎃

The Kraken Rum announce their new pop-up immersive Halloween horror experience in London, where the world’s most haunted pieces of art will be on display under one roof. Image courtesy of Kraken Rum. This Halloween, The Kraken is bringing a new kind of existential horror to the UK by opening what could be the world’s most dangerous art gallery. That’s because the temporary exhibition will, for the first time, bring together the most notorious haunted and cursed artworks and objects in the country, all known to have inflicted terror and suffering upon those that have gazed upon them. Curated by art historian and critic, Ruth Millington, the House of Curses comprises six psychologically thrilling themed mini-exhibits, including ‘Cursed Creatures’, ‘Possessed Children’ and modern-day Creepypasta ‘Internet Lore’, with visitors receiving a walkthrough audio guide delving into the haunted backstories of each piece. Artwork by Zac Webb. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. Entering through ‘Cursed Creatures’, after discovering more about the history of the Kraken itself, guests will find themselves in ‘Ghost’, where they’ll see haunted projector slides from the Birmingham & Midlands Institute as well as original artwork by Zac Webb, painted during his time in residency at Ohio’s most haunted house. Moving through to ‘Skeleton’, the theme of death becomes ever more prevalent, showcased through an original Damien Hirst skull – ‘The Dream is Dead’. Artwork by Damien Hirst. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. Room four explores the darkest corners of internet lore from Slenderman to Goat Man and Creepypasta legends, before moving through to ‘Dolls’ which hosts one of the UK’s most haunted items – The Grace Doll. Known as the UK’s ‘Annabelle’, this doll, donated by paranormal investigator Danny Moss, has been seen to move inside her enclosed glass box as well as threatening to ‘burn [visitors’] eyes out.’ Dolls on display at Kraken Screamfest: House of Curses. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. The penultimate room sees visitors surrounded by a series of ‘Possessed Children’ paintings including the ‘Crying Boy’ that was said to have caused homes to burn down in Scotland. There is also the deeply unsettling ‘The Hands Resist Him’ portrait: a horror-stricken painting which seemed to cause the deaths of those closely associated with it. So evil is this work that even the reproductions are said to be possessed with a malevolent force. Artwork on display at Kraken Screamfest: House of Curses. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. Accessible only after signing a waiver, the final exhibit contains one of the most haunted paintings of them all. This original piece was the centre of a 2023 media storm after it was returned to a charity shop by multiple owners who reported chills, being chased by a demonic figure and one person even having to call an ambulance after collapsing in the painting’s presence. Those who do dare enter will be granted only a short time in the presence of ‘The Unknown Girl’ before being ushered out to the safety of The Kraken Bar. The Unknown Girl on display at Kraken Screamfest: House of Curses. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. With a menu of cocktails inspired by the haunted artworks, as well as burning sage-laced drinks to ward away evil, shell-shocked guests can begin to unwind in the bar, where they’ll also find a tarot card reader and Zoltar machine for further evening thrills. Art curator, Ruth Millington said: House of Curses is the most intense exhibition I’ve ever curated. From the legend of The Kraken itself to real-life haunted pieces that have inflicted all manner of terror upon owners and artists, this is a gallery not to be missed – providing you’re brave enough. Hauntings, death and horror have been key themes in artwork and objects for millennia and now we’re bringing a variety of those pieces together in one high-risk exhibition this Halloween in Screamfest: House of Curses. Artwork on display at Kraken Screamfest: House of Curses. Images courtesy of Kraken Rum. Tickets for Screamfest: House of Curses cost £10 and include entry and two free drinks, including a welcome drink. The exhibition runs from 31st October to Saturday 2nd November at The Vinyl Factory, Soho.

With a return to Thebes and a final season at Phantom Peak's Canada Water venue, to an immersive version of The Traitors, there's already a host of London-based shows to be excited about in 2025... Bacchanalia (Sleepwalk Immersive) Photo: Ivy Corbin Bacchanalia is an immersive adaptation of The Bacchae by Euripides. Set in a psychedelic 1960s rendition of the city of Thebes, the show is a free-roam performance in which audience members are able to follow a range of characters as Thebes falls from order into madness and debauchery. According to Sleepwalk Immersive, the new staging of the show will expand upon previous performances with new content. Bacchanalia was previously staged at Crypt in Bethnal Green in November 2023 and enjoyed a sold-out run. The show later returned to the same venue in February and March 2024 after receiving overwhelmingly positive word-of-mouth from audiences. Critical praise for the show was equally strong, with The Stage highlighting it as one of the Top 50 Shows of 2023 and Broadway World describing Bacchanalia as a "fascinating piece of immersive theatre". In our review of the show, we called it "one of the best new immersive shows of the year”. Past performances saw a cast of performers renowned in the immersive world, as well as exciting newcomers. This upcoming run at Hoxton Hall promises to build on the well-received core of the show’s past runs while further expanding the company’s vision for Bacchanalia. 📍 Hoxton Hall 💰 From £54.00 🕒 11th - 23rd March 2025 🎟️ Book via sleepwalkimmersive.com Deathcell: Magenta (R Space Productions) Photo: R Space Productions R Space Production's Deathcell: Magenta has been a long time coming. The much-anticipated prequel to their 2018 immersive horror production, which won Best Out of Season Attraction at the 2019 ScareCON Awards, the show promises to be a mix of immersive theatre, theatrical cinema, time-pressured puzzle-solving, and impossible decisions. The R Space Productions team has over 30 years of combined experience in the live entertainment industry, and its founder, Steph Ricketts, has played an important part in bringing a lot of Thorpe Park's most well-known scare attractions to life. Expect big scares and tough decisions when Deathcell: Magenta opens at an undisclosed location in Hackney Wick this February. 📍 Hackney Wick 💰 From £30.00 🕒 21st February 2024 - 1st March 2025 🎟️ Book via deathcell.co.uk Phantom Peak: The Final Season Photo: Alistair Veryard With 11 seasons of Phantom Peak having run since first opening in August 2022, it's been confirmed that the next season of Phantom Peak - currently titled 'The Final Season' - will be the last at their Canada Water venue. Over the last 24 months, Phantom Peak has gone from strength to strength, with consistently high-quality trails, an ever-expanding list of technology on offer, and an ongoing narrative that's rich and rewarding for long-time visitors while still engaging for first-timers. Details of exactly where the show is relocating to are still under wraps, but we know that this venue change will usher in a new era for the show. Recent seasons of Phantom Peak have had increasing mentions of 'The Great Undoing' - an event that looks set to rock the foundations of the platypus-loving town to its Diamant-filled core. 📍 Canada Water 💰 From £42.00 🕒 From 14th February 2025 🎟️ Book via phantompeak.com Elvis Evolution Photo: Elvis Presley Enterprises LLC Layered Reality, the producers of Elvis Evolution, have become a powerhouse of immersive experience over the last few years. Their best-known show, Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience, holds the title of London's longest-running immersive show, and The Gunpowder Plot - which tells the story of Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up parliament - has been running next to the Tower of London since 2022. In 2025, their new production will debut at Immerse LDN near ExCel London. 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. Elvis will be brought 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 has been given access to thousands of Elvis’s personal photos and hours of his home video archive to create these new AI Elvis performances. 📍 ExCel London 💰 From £75.00 🕒 From 10th May 2025 🎟️ Book via elvisevolution.com The Traitors: Live Experience Photo: Hugo Glendinning The Traitors: Live Experience, which is set to open in the West End this Spring, is a first-of-its-kind adaptation of the hit BBC series. Produced by Immersive Everywhere, the experience will invite guests to step into the world of the TV series and sit at the Round Table for a high-stakes game of deception, strategy, and teamwork. It'll feature recognisable gameplay elements such as a blindfolded Traitors selection, several missions that will test both physical and mental endurance, and ample opportunities for the Traitors to strategise whether to murder or recruit from the rest of the group. Leading the creative vision for the project is Neil Connolly, Creative Director at Immersive Everywhere, whose track record includes The Crystal Maze Live Experience, The Tomb Raider Live Experience, and other ground-breaking immersive experiences. Immersive Everywhere has previously mounted immersive adaptations of Peaky Blinders and Doctor Who. 📍 West End 💰 From £29.50 🕒 Spring 2025 🎟️ Sign up for pre-sale via thetraitorslive.co.uk For the latest news and updates on all of 2025's immersive shows in London, follow us on Instagram, X and BlueSky

Ever wondered what it takes to be a Traitor or outsmart one? Set to open Spring 2025, The Traitors: Live Experience will open its doors in London, offering players the opportunity to be plunged into the heart of the drama as they take part in the UK’s first-ever playable experience based on the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning TV show, The Traitors. In this high-stakes game of deception, strategy, and teamwork, players will find themselves at the centre of the experience, sitting at ‘The Round Table’, collaborating on missions and forming alliances – but the question is, who can they trust? Guided by a dynamic live host, players will work to uncover the Traitors hidden amongst them with thrilling missions guaranteed to deliver an unforgettable experience complete with intrigue, competition, and camaraderie. During the action-packed experience, players will be thrust into the suspenseful world of the hit TV show, featuring recognisable gameplay such as a blindfolded Traitors selection, several heart-racing missions that will test both physical and mental endurance, as well as ample opportunity for the Traitors to strategise whether to murder or recruit from the rest of the group. Photo: Hugo Glendinning Claudia Winkleman, host of the UK version of The Traitors, comments: I am extremely excited for The Traitors: Live Experience to open in London next year. I can’t wait for players to immerse themselves in their own drama, strategy and deception. They’ll love the game and should definitely expect twists. Please can you add an evil cackle here? Leading the creative vision for the project is Neil Connolly, Creative Director at Immersive Everywhere, whose track record includes The Crystal Maze Live Experience, The Tomb Raider Live Experience and other ground-breaking immersive experiences. Perfect for friends, colleagues and fellow thrill-seekers, The Traitors: Live Experience promises to be entertaining and nail-biting in equal measure and will be home to a luxurious themed bar where guests can indulge in a pre- or post-game drink as well as table service once sat at The Round Table. Photo: Hugo Glendinning Tickets to The Traitors: Live Experience will go on sale in early 2025, priced from £29.50 per person. Sign up at www.thetraitorslive.co.uk to receive presale access and further event information.

Photo: DARKFIELD Acclaimed immersive theatre producers DARKFIELD will take up residency in Shoreditch Town Hall basement The Ditch this April, bringing their latest critically acclaimed experience ARCADE to the venue alongside three additional experiences. ARCADE first premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 and later enjoyed a sell-out run at BFI London Film Festival. For the first time, DARKFIELD will present one of their experiences outside their trademark shipping container, with ARCADE transposed into the untouched basement of iconic Grade II listed Shoreditch Town Hall. Photo: Kate Edwards Using the nostalgic 8-bit aesthetic of 1980’s video games, ARCADE’s interactive narrative explores the evolving relationship between players and avatars. Over 30 minutes, audiences will choose their own path through the story whilst experiencing DARKFIELD’s signature 360-degree binaural sound and sensory effects for a fully immersive experience. Each at their own individual arcade machine, 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. Photos: Kate Edwards As part of the residency, audiences can expect a purpose-built bar, and also experience a trio of additional shows - DOUBLE, VISITORS and ETERNAL - all of which were originally part of the online-only DARKFIELD Radio Season One in 2020, and are being presented as physical installations for the first time. Speaking on their upcoming residency, DARKFIELD said: We are so excited to be coming to Shoreditch Town Hall for a residency this April, especially bringing ARCADE - our most ambitious show to date - into such a unique space as The Ditch. This will be the first time that we have transposed one of our shipping container shows into a new environment and it just feels like the perfect fit. We can’t wait to see DARKFIELD AT THE DITCH fully realised and really hope our audiences enjoy exploring the world they are immersed in. Ellie Browning, Head of Cultural Programme at Shoreditch Town Hall, commented: Our atmospheric basement space The Ditch is perfect for populating with pioneering immersive experiences, and so we are thrilled to host a DARKFIELD takeover this Spring. Their seriously clever use of tech, coupled with interactive narratives transports players to other worlds and promises experiences that our audiences won't forget. DARKFIELD at The Ditch runs at Shoreditch Town Hall from 1st April to 12th April 2025. Tickets to ARCADE are priced from £14.00, with DOUBLES, VISITORS and ETERNALS all priced at £8.00, or £6.00 when booked alongside ARCADE. For more information, and to book visit shoreditchtownhall.com