What: Punchdrunk, the UK company behind the long-running hit Sleep No More, presents a new immersive experience hosted by The Shed. Using a labyrinthine immersive installation and surround-sound piped in over headphones, as well as Helena Bonham-Carter's narration of a dark story of the moon, mazes, and dancing shoes, Viola's Room takes the audience on a hypnotic and magical journey.
And? In case my description didn't make it clear, I LOVED IT. It brought back so many things I love about Punchdrunk: total engagement with the senses, a haunting and bittersweet narrative, a sense of magic and mystery, an unknowableness, and installations and environments with such a precise and piercing attention to detail that takes the breath away. It's an intimate experience--none of the chaos of Sleep No More or Life and Trust, but perhaps more akin to Third Rail's Then She Fell--with only six people in each group, staggered at 15-minute intervals on their journey through the space and story. And at only one hour, it leaves plenty of the evening left for a meal with friends to digest and discuss (I went alone, but I plan to return with friends).
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