Knot: A Trilogy by Darkfield Radio

My existence is possible, but it is not proven 

You are joined on a park bench by a woman who is lost in the city. You are in a car heading both towards and away from the park. In a meeting room a cyclical story, tied up like a knot with no ends, is conjured into existence by a collective effort.

KNOT is a trilogy, a three part immersive audio experience unfolding in three different locations – for the first episode audiences will situate themselves on a park bench, for the second in a car, and for the third in a room of their home.

Three intersecting, interwoven episodes question how inevitable anything is. You will need to experience all three for the story to be complete.

Darkfield, a performance company known for merging technology with theatre to create incredibly immersive, boundary-breaking performances are back again with their side project, Darkfield Radio.  Darkfield Radio takes the audience on an audio journey from wherever they are in the world.  After their success with their first season of audio performances, season 2 is starting off strong with, Knot: A Trilogy.

Knot involves the audience listening to the performance in complete immersive, 360 audio in 3 locations.  The first taking part on a park bench, the second in the passenger seat of a car, and finally inside a room in their own home.  As the audience member takes to these locations wherever they are in the world they are all experiencing the story together.

The narrative itself is purposely perplexing.  Throughout the three episodes, it leaves the audience asking questions as to who they can trust, the timeline, and just how you ended up in these places that the audio transports you to.  Each episode calls back to the others and you soon pick up on repetitions and subtle callbacks as you piece together what is going on to both yourself and the characters around you.

The immersive audio is some of the best I’ve ever heard, in fact, it is way more effective than any immersive theatre I’ve experienced.  At the start of each episode, you are told to close your eyes and to cover them with something if you are tempted to peek, and I can see why this advice is given.  The sounds around you are so realistic it is incredibly tempting to open your eyes and try and discern what is real and what is part of the audio track.  This is especially true in the second episode which is set inside a car.  There was more than one occasion I had to open my eyes and check around me in my vehicle to make sure I wasn’t alone, it feels that real!  At times it does feel intense and I was on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion which is a strange feeling when your logical brain knows you are in your own space.

Knot blurs reality and has themes of repetition, trust, and trying to make changes in a forgone conclusion that really make it a performance you need to see…well hear!  Knot is being streamed on various dates until the 25th of July, tickets are £22.50 and can be purchased through the Darkfield Radio website.

Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review