Darkfield at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
British immersive theatre group, Darkfield, return with their unique blend of pitch-dark shipping containers and 360-degree binaural audio, creating creepy and disturbing theatre experiences that are not for the faint-hearted.
Starting off with Coma, we are led into metal containers, selecting our bunk – either top, middle or bottom – placing headphones on before settling into pitch darkness. The depth of the space is almost indescribable, so impenetrable that you cannot see your own hand in front of you, let alone anyone else. In Coma, we are part of a group experiment – should you participate. With the help of the award-winning binaural sound, you can practically feel the doctors and nurses walking beside you, and the experience becomes more and more unnerving as each moment passes. You touch the walls in an effort to root yourself back to the present, reminding yourself you are okay, that you are safe in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Park, telling yourself it will end soon, but enjoying it nonetheless. One word to describe Coma? Traumatising.
After a break, we enter Eulogy. This chapter of Darkfield is slightly different, with the container sectioned off into sitting portions, displaying metal cages with pillows. We are each given a card inscribed with a name, and led through the hotel via the narrative. Each time the lift doors open and close, you feel a gentle whiff of wind, as if you are actually passing through the building. Eulogy is a little harder to follow, and others agreed, though it maintains the core Darkfield tenets of discomfort, jarring sensibilities, and sudden loud sounds.
Next up, we have Flight, a disturbingly realistic simulated plane crash that incorporates Quantum Mechanics. The shipping container is replicated after an aircraft, complete with overhead cabins, and a staff member on screen, flickering between normalcy and eeriness. As we fly through space and time relatively safely, there is a storm brewing, the aircraft windows lighting up red. Over the headphones, you hear the pilot consider crashing the plane, people are crying, babies screaming, and then the audio jolts you back to smooth sailing. The seats are designed in such a way that they jerk to and fro, giving the impression of turbulence, and again, all this is made that much terrifying through the pitch darkness. Much like Schrodinger’s cat, we are both alive and not, traversing through a myriad worlds, a sense of relief when the automated voice signals the end.
And finally, we have Arcade, an 80s-style gaming station, that has multiple-choice questions, resulting in different outcomes. You are in what feels like a post-apocalyptic war, and depending on your selections, you end up either on the winning or losing side. The sensory effects are startling, but Arcade feels a little jumbled, resulting in a decreased sense of involvement and more apathy than anything.
The experiences are good, Coma being the clear highlight, but it would be highly recommended to have a yurt or gazebo of sorts where you can wait out the freezing cold, along with some hot drinks, as that part of the event was very unpleasant.
Darkfield founders Glen Neath, David Rosenberg and Andrea Salazer are very good at what they do, and it is exciting to see the disturbing projects they have lined up for us next in their lucid dream world.
Selina Begum
Image: Mihaela Bodlovic
Darkfield was at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. For further information, visit the theatre’s website here.
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