I've heard good things about PunchDrunk, a group of artists and directors who bring performances and stories to life through immersing the audience in them. I have never been to a PunchDrunk performance, so this was my first visit, and it has been over ten years since their last production. When I heard about the release of tickets late last year and also that the performance would be set at the time of the Trojan War, I scrambled to make the purchase once they were available in January. Unfortunately, Saturday turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far (along with the previous several days and next few days), so they have had to cut down the production times to two loops instead of three, which meant that I ended up missing a third of it.
Visitors are expected to explore the venue, which is carved up into separate sections between Troy and Greece. The rooms included a Trojan town square with some shops (flower shop, restaurant, a shop selling clay votive offerings to the gods, etc), a Trojan residential town square with some interiors (homes, bathroom, bedroom, etc) and in an upstairs area, there was a bar and bedroom with circular bed. There was a room filled with a maze of tents, which probably represents the army tents erected by the Greeks. There was another room that looked like the inside of a ship or warehouse with crates of arrows, a horse, and other items. There was a large stage area with what appeared to be an anchor or a battleground in the Greek side, an altar to the gods and goddesses with sand, a forest, and offices. There was also an upstairs section with a long banqueting table and a bedroom at the back.
The actors came on thirty minutes after we arrived, which cut the loops of the acts down. Apparently, the performances are acted out in three loops, but due to the weather, one loop was cut. Visitors decide which acts to follow, and they follow the actors and actresses into different rooms. When the characters split up, visitors decide which story they wish to follow.
The stories follow some elements of the Trojan war and stories of the aftermath of the war (not Odysseus though). Characters are based from the books. The actors and actresses do not speak, so you don't know who is who, and a lot of it will not make a lot of sense. I last read Greek mythology and the books over twenty years ago, but I did not know who was who.
Visitors who bring other guests are expected to split up to get more out of the experience, which I agree with. You are supposed to follow the stories and characters that you wish, and it's not possible to do this with another person. Also, some of the stories are quite busy with small rooms, so not everyone can fit inside some rooms or see what is going on without being blocked.
Visitors must wear face coverings, and everyone is given a mask to wear inside. This allows everyone to know who is an actor.
There's so much to see, and the performance is capped at three hours, though it was shorter. I dived between Greece and Troy, though I saw the most part of both finales - Troy first, then headed to Greece when it was over to see the finale. Then, we were ushered out. I had the 13:30 entry slot, and we were ushered out at 16:00. I would have preferred more time to explore, but I didn't seem to see repeat loops as suggested. Overall, I felt disappointed that it was cut short due to the weather - understandably for the safety of everyone (actors and audience).
I took the bloke with me, and he did not want to go his own way, so that dampened the mood. Also, he did not understand it and did not enjoy it at all and moaned the whole time; I don't think he gave it a chance. I admit that I did not understand most of it either as I did not know which character it was, but I was exploring my way and was able to make sense out of what was going on.
Overall, it was not my favourite immersive experience, and I felt that it could have been better, and I feel that maybe it would have been if it were not for the hot weather.
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