The Burnt City by Punchdrunk

In the smouldering promise of the fall of Troy, a mythical world of Gods and mortals rises from the ashes.

As Greece teeters on the brink of victory, the neon backstreets of Downtown Troy give way to a sprawling labyrinth hiding secrets even the prophecies could not foretell.

In this colossal playground, the furies watch on as mortals play out their fate. And as night falls, the city comes alive. One last time.

On their own theatrical adventure, audiences are free to explore this dystopian landscape – taking them from the majesty of royal palaces to the pulsating underworld of Troy. Audiences may choose to follow the characters who emerge from the shadows, saturate themselves in the show’s shifting atmosphere, or break free of the crowd and discover mysteries lying in wait at the heart of the labyrinth.

Calling The Burnt City a theatre experience is really an undersell, it feels more like being inside a living dream.  Wearing masks you descend into a fully fleshed-out world, where you can watch performers, explore entire cities and get lost in the adventure.

The use of masks really adds to the dreamlike atmosphere, the audience wearing them sets them apart from the performers and gives a sense of anonymity and freedom that cuts through the self-consciousness of the audience and allows them to surrender to the experience.  The audience members are asked not to speak to each other for the duration of the performance for the same reason.  It was my first time at a Punchdrunk show and I know that this is one of their signatures and I can see why.

You can choose to follow a cast member and follow the storyline, or just wander around the many rooms and explore.  It’s hard to really explain just how big this area in which this is set without experiencing it for yourself but it is enormous, it covers 100’000 square feet!  I mainly went for the exploration aspect but occasionally I would stumble upon a performer, watch their scene for a while, follow them and then suddenly I was in another huge area I hadn’t found before!  I was in the experience for around 3 hours and there were still plenty of rooms we didn’t get to and the time flew by.  The sets are some of the highlights of this performance, they are buildings within buildings and there is so much to explore, the level of detail in each area is immense.

As for the storylines themselves, they are told by a large cast who move throughout the areas performing using only interpretive dance with very little dialogue.  Everything is perfectly timed and you can pick up and drop these performers as you go to follow their story before you move on to something else.

The only criticism is that the stories themselves aren’t that clear.  If you are more familiar with your ancient mythology maybe some of this would be easier for you to figure out than it was for me who hadn’t studied them since school.  Despite this, it didn’t really get in the way of my enjoyment.

The Burnt City by Punchdrunk is an immersive spectacle that has to be experienced to understand truly.  The Burnt City is on until the 16th of April and tickets can be purchased through The Burnt City website and start from £45.

I was gifted tickets in exchange for a review, all words and opinions are my own