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Our review of Humbug, the immersive Christmas dive bar. Back for 2024 after a successful debut in 2023 on Leake Street in Waterloo, this year's edition of Humbug Photo: Grant Walker VIP ticket holders also get a chance to speak to Santa in the bar's stockroom, which year's more intimate version of the show has been lost. ★★★½ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review

Our review of Blumhouse Blackout... For more reviews of immersive experiences like Blumhouse Blackout, click here.

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

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

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

. ★★★★ Final race time: 02:40:09 [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Race Across The World Tickets are priced from £25.00 per person and can be booked via feverup.com For more reviews of immersive experiences like Race Across The World: The Experience (West End), check out our recent Reviews .

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

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

. ★★★½ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Immersive 1984: A Unique Theatre Experience

. ★★★★ [Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review] Alibi: Dead Air runs at Theatre Deli near Aldgate For more information and to book tickets, visit alibi.london For more reviews of immersive experiences like Alibi: Dead Air, check out our recent Reviews.

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

We recently appeared on the No Proscenium podcast to discuss the current state of immersive theatre in London and look back at the big moments of 2024. The episode was hosted by No Proscenium 's Noah Nelson, and also featured Katy Naylor ( Voidspace ), Franco Milazzo ( BroadwayWorld UK ), and Shelley Snyder ( No Proscenium ). Listen here: