Theatre | The Guardian: Punchdrunk’s last immersive production, The Burnt City, drew more than 600 masked theatregoers each night to spend three hours venturing around a sprawling saga based on Greek myths. Their next show, announced on Monday, will invite them to take off their shoes and socks for a slumber party.
4 comments:
I feel as though I have heard of Punchdrunk before however I am wracking my brain and can't for the life of me remember why this feels so familiar. I am glad this article talked a lot about economics as unfortunately, it is a huge part of art making. Before I read this article my very first reaction was wow this could be really profitable. After reading the article my opinion doesn't change but it does have a lot more variables added to my thoughts and opinions. Personally, I would absolutely love to go to any one of their shows. It seems like something that would attract tourists and locals alike. I am very intrigued by this new slumber party idea. Particularly, how fear plays into it. I think it's so fun that this new installation is audio-based and that I haven't seen very many I guess, normal themes used for installations. I think slumber parties are something so universal and it will be fun to see an audience interact with the theme.
I saw The Burnt City in London about a year ago, and it was without a doubt one of the most amazing theatrical experiences I've had. The world-building and ability to create strong emotions were probably the best I have ever seen in any theater. One of the most remarkable things about the show was that there was very little dialogue, and the musical score and audio effects played a major role in the story. That makes me think that this new show, Viola's Room, which is based primarily on audio, will be very interesting and well done because the people at Punchdrunk certainly know how to create a story with sound. I am curious if this show will have the same appeal as The Burnt City and their other big show, Sleep No More, because both of those had the massive appeal of being a huge world with incredible sets around, and an audio experience could be more difficult to advertise.
This seems like a very neat production of an immersive experience. I loosely follow Punchdrunk’s productions, as the work they make has historically been, for lack of a more coherent thought at the time I’m writing this, very cool, and this new production of Viola’s Room seems to follow this trend. The idea of a production mainly driven by senses that are not sight is a fascinating one, and I think that it will be a very unique production in a design sense because of it. Having the audience member go barefoot is another choice that I’m sure will enhance the intimacy of the experience as people tend to expect to be wearing shoes when following a performance, even an immersive one. In that way, it feels as if Punchdrunk is subverting that expectation in order to enhance the ‘bedtime story’ feeling of the exploration of the story. I also appreciate that they’re striving to keep the prices accessible and keep this one of a kind experience open to all.
I LOVE IMMERSIVE THEATRE!!! I Love Punchdrunk and their mission and all of the work that they do! I was fortunate enough to the opportunity to watch and witness the brilliance that was “The Burnt City” described in this article and it was fucking stunning and gorgeous and I have never felt or seen anything like it and I was in awe and engaged and fascinated and intrigued by literally every little detail that was meticulously placed everywhere on that massive set. I loved like looking through the drawers of the desk or flipping through the notebook of some important character to see their intentions. The brilliance behind the direction and design of that production was just fucking insane and un paralleled. I am so excited to see what this new show has to offer and I am very sad that they might be having some money trouble but I hope that they can resolve it continue to make fucking stunning theatre and expand peoples perception of what theatre can be.
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