A new show from Punchdrunk always constitutes a significant moment in the cultural calendar. These world-leading pioneers in immersive theatre became famous for their expansive and beguiling site-specific pieces, in which audiences were free to make their own decisions and roam at will, encountering all manner of weird and wonderful characters and situations en route. In such works Punchdrunk was at its punchiest – but unfortunately this latest offering cannot begin to compete with memories of such magnificence.
The location is the company’s headquarters in Woolwich, perforce a strictly confined space. This time the narrative is linear and carefully controlled; barefoot audience members – in groups of up to six at a time – are instructed to “follow the light” all the way through, looking out for the next guiding glimmer in the pervading darkness. There are no live performers either; instead, we listen through headphones to Helena Bonham Carter telling us a story.
Her voice is intimate, appealing and mischievous, but unfortunately the words she has been given to speak are not compelling and make little lasting impact. Booker Prize nominee Daisy Johnson has reworked Barry Pain’s 1901 gothic mystery short story “The Moon-Slave”, about a princess on the brink of marriage lured when there is a full moon into a dark and mysterious maze that appears at the back of her castle. The narrow circuits we make in Felix Barrett’s production centre upon a teenage girl’s.