Immersive Producers DARKFIELD Announce 2025 Fringe Line-up

Pioneering immersive theatre company DARKFIELD has announced its 2025 line-up for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, marking a return to the festival with critically acclaimed experiences and the first in-person staging of its DARKFIELD RADIO series.

The company, known for its use of 360-degree binaural sound, sensory effects, and complete darkness, will present three distinct installations across two venues from 30 July to 25 August 2025.

This year’s programme includes:

• DARKFIELD RADIO (Summerhall, Old Lab, 31 July – 25 August) – Presented live for the first time, three pandemic-era audio experiences (DOUBLE, VISITORS, and ETERNAL) will be staged simultaneously in a shared immersive setting. Previously designed to be experienced at home, the works have been adapted for a communal in-person setting.

• EULOGY (Summerhall, The Terrace, 30 July – 25 August) – Returning to its original Fringe site, this shipping container-based production uses speech recognition and binaural audio to transport audience members into a dreamlike hotel setting.

• ARCADE (Pleasance Dome, Potterrow Plaza, 1 – 25 August) – DARKFIELD’s most interactive experience to date returns following a sold-out 2024 Fringe run. Set in the 1980s-inspired world of arcade video games, the show allows players to navigate branching narratives exploring free will, war, and digital identity.

The 2025 staging of DARKFIELD RADIO marks the first time the company will present a work outside of its signature shipping containers at the Edinburgh Festival. The three featured audio pieces each place audience members at the centre of intimate, unsettling narratives:

• DOUBLE explores the Capgras delusion through a dinner-table scenario between two individuals.

• VISITORS is a haunting meditation on grief and touch, designed for pairs.

• ETERNAL immerses a single participant in a narrative about immortality, experienced lying in a bed.

Since their creation during the COVID-19 pandemic, these pieces have only been available as at-home audio experiences until now.

ARCADE, DARKFIELD’s newest large-scale production, places individual audience members at retro-style arcade machines where they guide avatars through a dystopian world shaped by war, cults, and existential decisions. First presented at the 2024 Fringe and later at the BFI London Film Festival Expanded, ARCADE returns with its full interactive experience for a new audience at the Pleasance Dome.

Ahead of the Fringe, DARKFIELD will also present their original container work FLIGHT at Salisbury International Arts Festival (24 May – 1 June), and bring ARCADE to Ventnor Fringe on the Isle of Wight (18 – 27 July).