Punchdrunk: The Burnt City

London is a city built on ghosts. Romans, plague pits, abandoned Tube stations and the collective memory of audiences who still shudder about The Woman in Black. There’s even a theatre supposedly inhabited by a ghost dolphin called Flipper.

In something of a quiet revolution, Phantom Peak has clambered its way to join the best atop the immersive theatre pile - an impression that its latest season fails to dismiss.

In 2024, the immersive genre in London and beyond grew and grew and grew, with the independent sector overshadowing the biggest names.

Deadweight Theatre’s The Manikins: A Work In Progress is many things. It is interactive. It is intimate. It is thought-provoking. And, despite the misleading title, it has a polished concept that leaves its audience pondering long after the show ends.

In a sudden lurch away from their epic 2022 creation The Burnt City, immersive specialists Punchdrunk’s next effort is a far more cosy affair. Small barefoot groups walk their way through the Nineties fairytale world of Viola’s Room with the story relayed over headphones by Helena Bonham Carte

For the first time, an original soundtrack from a Punchdrunk show is available. Released by The Vinyl Factory, the album is available from today!

When Phantom Peak, one of London's most innovative and ridiculously fun theatrical experiences, holds a Festival Of Innovation, how can one say no? It is not the only impressive immersive show in town but its near-peerless execution and boundless imagination puts it up there with the more well known Punchdrunk.

Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced the location, cast, and creative team for the highly-anticipated spring production of Macbeth. Directed by STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin, Macbeth stars Tony and BAFTA Award-winner Ralph Fiennes and Olivier Award-winner Indira Varma as the leading lord and lady. Learn more about the location, cast, and creative team here!

Punchdrunk announces The Last Rite, a closing party to celebrate The Burnt City on Sunday 17 September. The Last Rite will feature pop-up performances by the cast and extended performing family of The Burnt City and guest DJs including Mynxie.

photosEarlier this week, singer-songwriter dodie joined Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City in a one-off sold out performance. dodie performed an acoustic set in The Burnt City’s very own speakeasy, Peep, featuring covers of David Bowie’s Life on Mars? and Alison Moyet’s All Cried Out.

Sadler’s Wells has released a film on Digital Stage celebrating the first 10 years of National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) and announced that acclaimed choreographer Oona Doherty will be Guest Artistic Director for 2023/24.

Following a record-breaking eighteen months in London, the final performance of Punchdrunk's The Burnt City will be held on 24 September 2023, at the end of the current booking period. 

Can the best get better? In my 2022 year-end roundup, I ranked Phantom Peak as my favourite immersive show of 2022, ahead of bigger shows like Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City and TV show-based drama Peaky Blinders: The Rise. The latest iteration has a new platypus theme and even more mysteries to solve but will it be enough to retain top spot?

Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City is undoubtably one of the biggest and most impressive shows in London, if only by sheer physical scale. Is it worth upgrading to their VIP experience?

Full casting has been announced for the West End premiere of the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical AIN'T TOO PROUD, opening at the Prince Edward Theatre from Friday 31 March 2023.

If 2020 was the year theatre ground to a halt and 2021 was when it nervously found its legs again (only to fall over occasionally), then 2022 was when it blasted back to some kind of normal with many pandemic-delayed shows finally seeing the inside of a venue.

After Covid dealt a stuttering start to the year, 2022 brought some standout shows and performances. Here are some of our critics' highlights from the past twelve months.

Well, we may not know how we got here, but here we are - December 2022. Somehow, we are nearly at the end of the insane year that has been 2022. In this article, I take a look back at some of the highlights of my time in the theatrical worlds of New York and London these past twelve months.

The West End production of AIN'T TOO PROUD has announced the quintet taking on the iconic roles of The Temptations at the Prince Edward Theatre from Friday 31 March 2023.

Experience the epic new world from Punchdrunk, as the greatest of Greek tragedies is transported to a sprawling dystopian labyrinth.

Theatre Royal Stratford East has announced full cast for Anthony Neilson's poignant and comical delve into the nature of mental illness, The Wonderful World of Dissocia, directed by Emma Baggott. Leah Harvey, BAFTA nominated star of the Apple TV+ series Foundation and last seen on stage in the National Theatre's Small Island, will play Lisa.

Theatres are making adjustments to cope with the current heatwave. The UK could have its hottest day on record this week, with temperatures forecast to hit up to 41C (106F).

Revenge is a dish best served old seems to be the message in Age Of Rage, the latest of Ivo van Hove’s latest extreme theatre productions as he serves up seven Greek stories, all in gloriously guttural Dutch. Read our critic's review.

Immersive theater company Punchdrunk has been signed by 42 for global representation. Punchdrunk is currently hosting the new show Burnt City, which is now in previews and opens on 21 April in London.

Ahead of their official opening night next Thursday 21 April, Punchdrunk has announced that an extended booking period is now on sale for The Burnt City until 4 December 2022.