‘Thank Goodness you’re finally here,’ a frantic looking man with day-old stubble yanks open the heavy door on a Borough Street. Ushering us inside, he babbles endlessly, stopping occasionally to throw questions our way: which publication are we from? Have we heard what’s happened since the discovery of the body? Will we tell his versions of event fairly? Chattering incessantly, he leads us through to a shabby warehouse space; empty beer bottles roll on the floor and at the back a wall of tatty notes and pictures have hastily been pinned together.
The Immersive Theatre Experience
Before you shout at me about being in an abandoned warehouse with a strange man, let me explain; this is the latest production from ImmerCity. Taking place at the CoLab Factory, Death of the King is a piece of immersive theatre that throws you into the action from the get go. The piece tells the story of a group of squatters in the 70s who occupied a warehouse, playing music, taking drugs and living a life without consequence, until the death of their leader. Now firmly in 2017, Jack - one of the few still alive - has returned to the warehouse to try and uncover what happened on the night of Rusty’s death, and we’re there to help him.
Spend the evening interacting with actors and trying to put all the pieces together.
Split into two groups of six, we spend the next three hours trying to put the fragmented jigsaw together in our role as journalists invited to a seance. Most of the action takes place in the basement, a squat and dank area filled with stained mattresses, dark corners and our characters for the evening - five wild and angry punk teens at the prime of their lives in the 70s.
We being the seance by tailing one character each, meaning that every person in the room experiences the performance in a different way. As angry and heartbroken punk rockers rollicked from room to room, we dashed after our lead. Each actor took on the role completely and simple techniques such as whispering to one another as other characters shouted feet away, forced you to lean in and experience everything fully. After returning to the world of the living and swapping stories and clues, we were allowed back down into the basement, this time to question the punks. Each person maintained their story completely and reacted to us, creating an experience that weaves you into the fabric of the story.
Head over to CoLab Factory as ImmerCity throw you into a world of 1970s punk rockers.
The Summary
Having never taken part in immersive theatre before, I was completely blown away by Death of a King. Everything was carefully plotted out to throw you into a world of 1970s punk; our role as journalists and detectives already bound us to pay attention but it was the acting from the characters and set that made you want to fully take part and throw yourself into finding out just what happened to Rocky.
