Review: PHANTOM PEAK: THE BURNING BLIMP FESTIVAL, Phantom Peak

The finest immersive experiences ask much of their audience. Titled “The Burning Blimp Festival”, Phantom Peak’s latest season makes demands on your detective skills, your physical stamina and - at one point - your immortal soul. Gulp.

Even if I still had my soul (which, if I remember rightly, I sold in the upper-sixth in exchange for university grades and Amanda Gresham’s phone number), this wouldn’t particularly put me off. Since it opened three years ago this summer, this ingenious show has never failed to surprise and entertain. Unsurprisingly, I’ve made more comebacks than Kylie to this fictional steampunk-slash-frontier themed town in Canada Water but, even for one of the most off-kilter places in London, it feels very different this time around.

And that’s saying something. Phantom Peak re-invents itself every three months, deepening its lore and birthing a newly named season with new set design, new food and drink options, new must-see opening and closing ceremonies and ten new missions (or “trails”) to follow each with their own plots and videos. I dare anyone to name a more theatrically prolific production in London; I double dare you.

This latest season riffs off the Burning Man Festival and references the desert extravaganza’s quirky arts and culture through site installations and a variety of seasonal stories. Once again, there are dark, whimsical and downright cheeky parodies which reference (among others) Sesame Street, David Cronenberg movies and the denizens of Hundred Acre Wood. Favourite characters like the ever-regenerating Professor When and the canine puppet detective Sherlock Bones are back (albeit without arch nemesis Professor Meowiarty).

It is also something of a Janus event looking back at the storylines since it first opened while looking forward with some smart quality-of-life refinements for its audience. The most obvious adjustment is the entrance which has been shifted a few hundred yards away from its usual spot and makes getting into the venue a much more pleasurable experience. A sturdy guide is available for the princely sum of £2.50 which gives an overview of where to find each of the 60 locations and introduces the 20 characters (including two new faces).

Other changes are more subtle. The customised arcade consoles have been moved to another space so that they can fit in more video screens and speed along the trails. New food and drink options have been added; punters can now enjoy five seasonal cocktails, ice cream lollies, boba lemonade and croffles (a chewy croissant/waffle crossover that somehow tastes better than both). 

It is worth noting that Phantom Peak is, to a great extent, theatre ex nihilio both physically and conceptually. There was nothing around like this show when it opened on the site of a disused Docklands car park. Bit by bit, co-founders Glen Hughes and Nick Moran have grown this 30,000 sq. ft. world organically. By steadily expanding the cast and locations, enhancing a commendable body of lore and adding in more and more fun in-world technology as they went, they have built up an enviable fanbase that not only turn up every quarter but dress up and keep returning. 

Its current location agreement with the local council is apparently coming to an end this year and Hughes and Moran have a new London location in their sights. With the latest season, there’s a sense that things have only got better for one of the biggest success stories in this capital’s culture sector.

Phantom Peak: The Burning Blimp continues until 7 September.