Hi everyone. I saw a play last weekend and at the risk of making this blog even more niche than it already is I’d like to talk about it a little as I really enjoyed it. The below will contain spoiler’s for the experience so I’ll say briefly here that if you like dark fairy tales and immersive theatre you should definitely try and see this if you’re around and about London in the next week or so.
Also, I’m not any sort of theatre critic so anything I say is just my enthusiastic thoughts. I’ve probably missed a ton of things and picked up on some things that aren’t there. But individual people’s reactions and interpretations are one of the things I like best about art. So it’s only fair I let people in on my own.
This was actually the second time I’d seen Viola’s Room. I loved it so much the first time I had to go again, especially when I heard it had been given a Christmas makeover. The makeover itself didn’t affect the content of the play itself so I feel fine in combining the two experiences together.
Viola’s room is an immersive theatre piece by the company Punchdrunk. Now immersive theatre is an incredibly broad church so that alone gave me little idea as to what I was getting in for. I didn’t want any spoilers as I knew these things were best going into blind so all I had was the assurance of some friends (admittedly friends whose recommendations I trust) that it was very good and I’d probably like it and the vague blurb that suggested that I was going to enter a dark, dreamlike almost ghost story.
Any expectations I had, the show exceeded them. Dreamlike really is the word. It felt like I was stepping into a waking nightmare and when I think back on it now and try to remember specific parts it does feel a little like trying to catch snatches of a dream that you know when you wake up had greatly affected you but you struggle to piece together the snatches of meaning from it. While viola’s room does have a definite plot, the story narrated to you through a pair of headphones follows the short story :”The Moon Slave” by Barry Pain very closely, there is also something else going on there, another narrative left open to audience interpretation intriguing and hidden between the cracks. You walk from room to room and along corridors, the story unfolding as you go. You’re required to be barefoot for the duration which is used to great effect as I’ll touch on later.
The experience engages your senses in a really interesting way. I’m do some folktale storytelling in my spare time and one of the things that I was taught to do when describing scenes is not just to describe what a space looks like. We often don’t experience things through sight alone and a description can be made much more real and visceral if you bring the other senses in. It doesn’t have to be dwelt on but helps to make things whole. I can truly say that I’ve never encountered a piece of theatre that has incorporated nearly all the senses (apart from taste, including that might be a little unhygienic) so well and so seamlessly. It was so impressive in fact, that I’m going to split up the rest of my descriptions into what I could see, hear, smell and feel.
See: Visually the play was stunning. You start off in Viola’s Room itself, a cosy childhood bedroom full of soft furnishings. You are invited to lie down and the lights dim until you’re plunged into complete darkness. After hearing the story’s introduction a passageway at the other end of the room is lit up and it’s time to start your adventure. There are a few set pieces that are really breathtaking. Whether it’s standing beneath the ever present and ever ominous Hawthorne tree or sitting in a quiet secluded chapel with a dark secret the environments created show you just enough to impress while not being too crowded that you lose the dread of what could be lurking in the darkness. Both darkness and light are used to great effect, the light to guide you and draw you towards what they want you to see, the darkness never far behind, sometimes enveloping you, sometimes suggesting something more in the corners of your view. I was also very impressed with the subtle visual cues all throughout. For example, at the beginning of the story where things are less ominous you’re transported through corridors of white sheets with tiny beautiful model and shadow puppet representations of the action. As the story becomes darker so do the sheets, taking on a grey and worn quality.
Hear: Throughout the experience you are told the story through headphones. Helena Bonham Carter does an excellent job of narration, building the tension softly yet relentlessly, keeping throughout that fairytale feel. The soundtrack was also wonderful, the music flawlessly reflecting the emotional beats whether it is the bright but constricting atmosphere of a royal court to the feeling of being stalked through the dark.
Smell: Different rooms had different smells which did wonders for immersion. The most over powering smell was the one in Viola’s room itself. It almost smelt like too sweet fabric conditioner at once comforting but also wrong. This smell clung to my jumper as I went through the play and I could still smell it when I left the building. Every time I caught the scent I got flashes of the experience.
Feel – The feelings of different textures beneath my feet are probably my most visceral memories of the show. The ground beneath you starts out soft and cushioned but gets harder and more uneven as the story progresses to its terrifying conclusion. The texture that still gives me shivers at the thought of is the feeling of damp muddy bark. This texture is present in a climatic sequence where you are walking quickly through a maze, an unknown force chasing you. The feelings of disorientation both brought about by the situation and the off putting texture was truly something. Added to this was the fact that the walls themselves got closer and closer together the further you went through the maze, constricting you just enough for you to feel trapped and boxed in as you squeeze through the gaps.
All in all I had a wonderful time with this play both times I went to see it. What I really took away from it is how, if done right, an engagement of all the senses can turn an already interesting story or concept into magic. I’ll really be remembering this experience when I GM my next horror game. Although I don’t have the expertise of the space Punchdrunk have I shall do my best to hold onto the ghosts of the feelings I had in Viola’s room and figure out how best to put those feelings into words.
