Latest news with #FelixBarrett
Evening Standard
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Punchdrunk's new live action video game is searching for early access players
Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk's artistic director, said that making a live video game is 'the holy grail for me'. Punchdrunk will use technology to bring the game to life, complete with maps and lives that can be lost and regenerated. The production company wants the show to be 'more engrossing' than 'an evening on Fortnite or Zelda'.
Time Out
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
‘It's high stakes, high adrenaline' – Punchdrunk head into space with video game influenced new show
Time was, you knew what you were getting with a new show from immersive theatre titans Punchdrunk: it would involve about three hours exploring a sinister, detailed fantasy landscape while wearing a mask and trying to decipher an oblique plot (which plays out multiple times) probably based on classic literature. But after 2022's huge Trojan War epic The Burnt City, founder Felix Barrett declared he was done with new 'mask shows'. He put his money where his mouth was with last year's superb Viola's Room. Now the company moves into further uncharted territory – literally and figuratively – with Lander 23, a 'live action video game' that casts audience members as an away team exploring an alien planet in an effort to find out why the team before them disappeared. Ahead of Lander 23 's 'early access launch' in September, Barrett spills the beans on his legendary company's latest startling change of shape. 'Multiplayer stealth game' sounds very different to the sort of show Punchdrunk has made in the past: how did you come to make a show that's clearly overtly influenced by video games? 'I've actually been wanting to do this for about 10 years now: we've had a few misfires with it. But finally we're getting there, it's an amazing thing to be doing on our twenty-fifth anniversary year because I truly believe it's the future.' Is it still fair to call it immersive theatre? 'I think what's interesting is that 'immersive theatre' was a term applied to us by the media, we didn't invent it, and I think the use of 'immersive' they mean actually comes from video games. It's the term that most readily describes that form because, you know, you plunge into a living breathing world.' Are video games a new influence on Punchdrunk? 'There were already parallels with what we do, and in fact when we opened Sleep No More in New York in 2011, one of the end of year write-ups gave us game of the year. And it really made me think about the proper immersion that would come if you took those video game mechanics and applied them to real life. So we're not an audience but players. I've been hypothesising about it for years now and actively trying to do it for over a decade.' The show will initially be 'early access', which as I understand it basically means 'work in progress' – why is that? 'We're gonna need more audience for this one than ever before to iterate and finesse and stress test it, which is why it's not a full blown launch.' Without spoiling it, what in a nuts and bolts way does the show involve you doing? 'Basically it's an adventure. The Lander craft is the vehicle that takes you from an orbiting mother ship to the surface of the planet – as deployed in many '80s and '90s action sci-fi shows. You're in the Lander Division at the Centre for Astrobiology, and you're there to collect samples, but also potentially solve the mystery of what happened to Lander 23, which disappeared. So it's high stakes, high adrenaline, you're plunged into a world you know very little about because you are the recon and you have to get back to your ship safely.' It's being staged at Punchdrunk's enormous home base The Carriageworks which has two very large areas: is it going to be transformed into one alien planet? Two alien planets..? 'It's just one alien planet: one landing, one mission, and out. What's exciting about it as well, I think in terms of our growing up and being more sustainable and more efficient as a company… I've always thought I'd love to get inside an empty video game engine and build a show inside, and that's what we're doing here, we're modding the set of The Burnt City.' Oh okay! Which half? Troy or Greece? 'Troy. So it's an empty, desolate town. It feels like it's properly sustainable theatre.' Will it look very different? 'I mean there are big differences, but it's a completely different mindset going in as well. Whereas the mask shows there's a slow crawl and a curiosity, with this there's an inherent tension in that you are exploring somewhere that you've never been before.' The Burnt City was about three hours and you didn't have to do anything in particular other than explore – is 90 minutes going to be enough for this? 'That's almost the most exciting thing about this! I live for different ways we can recontextualize the audience and to be able to give them that agency where they're focused, they've got something to do. Can they complete it? Do they deviate from that path? Do they suddenly get curious about strands of narrative? We're trying to build something that really serves whatever different psychology of player you are.' You can really fuck up in video games: either die, have to restart or simply be terrible at them. Is that a possibility here? There's surely a balance between a legitimately game-like experience and people feeling they've got value for money on their night out? 'You're plunging inside a game, it's like, an hour and a half of adrenaline and excitement, but you can fail it. A key part of video games is jeopardy: you have to be able to fail, otherwise there's no intention. You can lose your lives, but you can regenerate and you can go again.' Your previous shows have very explicit influences: they're adapted from source texts – is that the case here? 'Well, we started off with being very influenced by Roadside Picnic, the novel that became Tarkovsky's Stalker, that is an influence, but I think we've probably dialed back. We're also going for a sense of the sort of sci-fi adventures that we wanted to have when we were kids, because we want it to be an older family show. So we have been looking at '80s and '90s sci-fi.' Are there any games that are an influence? 'Have you heard of Sam Barlow's Immortality? In terms of form and function, it's unlike anything I've played before. I've also recently been playing Blue Prince, you're just trying to explore an empty house that you've been bequeathed in a will, and you've got to try and get to the last room. That's great.' Would it be correct to assume that like Viola's Room, there are no live actors in this one? 'There are performers pre-recorded at various stages, but none live.' Is Lander 23 what's going to be in the Carriageworks for the foreseeable? The next show we know about from you will be at the National Theatre in 2027 – do you have any other plans? 'We're delighted to be going to the National soon, but also we're really committed to using the Carriageworks as a laboratory to try new stuff in, a sort of safe space. It's such a luxury to be able to experiment again and take risks, like, you know: Viola's Room was like – 'we've got a building, let's try it'. We've got a good few shows already deep in the pipeline for the Carriageworks, I hope to be speaking to you in the coming months about another one.' We don't know anything about the National Theatre show other than that it's happening: can you give even the tiniest of hints? 'No! [laughs] But what I can say is I owe so much of my career to the National picking us up when we were a fringe of the fringe company, helping us promote the shows even though we were on the outskirts of London. So when Indhu (Rubasingham, NT artistic director) got in touch and said, would you consider it, we just leapt at the chance.' Lander 23 is at the Carriageworks, booking from Sep 17-Feb 2 2026. Prices will start from £23. As the show is based around teams of four, online booking has to be in ticket multiples of two, though single tickets can be arranged by calling the box office.
Time Out
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
I tried NYC's new barefoot immersive theater show 'Viola's Room,' and it was unsettlingly awesome
As an audience member and a mercifully no-longer actor, I've been asked to do a lot of things in a theatre space. But something I was not expecting while attending Punchdrunk's newest immersive theater creation, Viola's Room, was being asked to remove my shoes and socks and sanitize my feet before seeing the show. The titular room, equipped with six beds, is merely the starting point for this sensory journey directed by Felix Barrett, of Sleep No More fame. Led by light and sound, I felt my way through a labyrinthine installation as this gothic tale unfolded before my very eyes—except, of course, for the pitch darkness. Over the course of an hour at The Shed in Hudson Yards, our small group learned the story of Viola through over-ear headphone narration, which is based on the short story "The Moon-Slave" by Barry Pain. Writer Daisy Johnson adapted this short story into a thrilling and surprising adventure with themes of innocence and obsession—and did so without a single actor in the room. The experience began with my designated group of six strangers inside a dimly lit room. Before you make it to Viola's Room, make sure to arrive at The Shed at least 20 minutes before the allotted time, as this experience operates on a shift schedule; one group cannot begin until another ends. Not only that, but there is no late entry allowed—Viola has many guests! Once inside, a member of Punchdrunk's team explained the performance and how to best enjoy the experience. The lingering feeling of fear and anticipation were heavy in the moments before I entered and took a seat in a flimsy wooden chair beneath a dim lightbulb. I even witnessed a number of people having second thoughts about whether they could endure the experience. These same emotions were very present in Viola's own story, and Punchdrunk goes to great lengths to provide that layer to the production as well. "It's the most intimate and distilled form of a Punchdrunk experience we've created: an invitation to step inside a teenage daydream and surrender to the unknown," Barrett said in a statement. "In a non-stop world of screens and tech this is an invitation to succumb to a live, tactile and fully sensory journey." To add another layer, scent is also incorporated into this production. I noticed hints of floral and woodsy aromas, as well as the blanketing scent of a freshly cooked feast. That's about the closest you'll be getting to taste, I'm afraid, as the only food in Viola's Room is plastic and definitely not edible. Be prepared for haze, flashing lights, loud recorded sound, and moments of darkness, as well as very narrow spaces—some of which require audiences to crouch, crawl or bend over to pass through. Wearing comfortable and loose clothing is recommended. Cameras and mobile devices are not allowed. There is a complimentary bag check at the Mezzanine level of The Shed to store personal belongings, as well as labeled boxes to house any on-person items and shoes before entering the space. Sanitizer is provided for feet as this must be experienced barefoot (so make sure to trim your toenails before attending, too, especially if you're bringing a date). General admission tickets start at $49. Shows run Tuesday–Sunday until Oct. 19. As Viola's Room operates in groups of six, there are also private bookings available. Groups smaller than six are not guaranteed to experience the show together, so be prepared for that. While you're at The Shed, also check out some art at the free Open Call: Portals exhibition through August 24.
Time Out
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Paranormal Activity
Horror and the West End have a mixed recent history: The Woman in Black had a very good innings, and Inside Number 9's Stage/Fright worked a treat. 2.22 – A Ghost Story was a nice idea that ended up being done to death. The Enfield Haunting was unspeakably awful. It's with some trepadition, then, that we approach Paranormal Activity, a theatrical adaptation of the 2007 sleeper screen hit. Found footage horror isn't the obvious genre to put on stage by a long shot. But this adaptation has a real USP: it's directed by Felix Barrett, aka the brains behind immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk, his first non-Punchdrunk theatre show in over a decade. If anyone can inject some menace and atmophere into a show that is nominally about two people buying a house, it's him. And he's got a pretty good writer too: playwright Levi Holloway isn't much known over here, but he sounds eminently qulified having scored a Broadway hit recently with the spooky drama Grey House. His adaptation of the film sounds pretty 'free': rather than a stage retelling of the misadventures of the original film's demon-haunted San Diego couple Micah and Katie, this once concerns James and Lou, a couple who quit Chicago for London in the hope they can escape their past (spoiler alert: they can't).
Time Out
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A stage adaptation of horror classic ‘Paranormal Activity' is coming to London's West End
Found footage horror classic Paranormal Activity isn't necessarily the most obvious candidate for a stage adaptation: Oren Peli's film is famously based upon largely static camera shots as it traces the calamitous misadventures of a couple who move in together only to have their should-be domestic idyll disrupted by some sort of demonic presence. But if there's anyone who can make this sort of thing work in the theatre it's Felix Barrett, who as the driving force behind immersive theatre gods Punchdrunk has specialised in making impossible possible in a very creepy way for almost a quarter century now. Written by US playwright Levi Holloway – who scored a solid Broadway hit with the similarly spooky Grey House – it's a heavily reimagined version of the story, that sees Chicago couple James and Lou move to London only to discover that something dark has followed them. The show premiered in Leeds last summer: press weren't invited but word of mouth for the run seems strong, and it'll have an autumn tour of the US before settling into the West End for a 12-week limited season, where it'll replace the shutting Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Horror doesn't always work in the West End – it wasn't so long ago that the Ambassadors Theatre played host to the execrable Catherine Tate vehicle The Enfield Haunting – but the signs are there that this should be satisfyingly chilling.
