Reader Reviews
Punchdrunk - The Masque of the Red Death (BAC (Battersea Arts Centre), Inner London)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | This intelligent, intriguing performance piece will convert you to its kooky, spooky atmosphere in the best Addams-Family style. Dressed in a plague doctor's mask and velvet cape, as an audience member you will become a bit part player, in a combination of Poe’s best known plays. Anyone who has read Fall of the House of Usher, Ligeria, or the Purloined Letter will be able to identify snippets of the writer’s work. Anyone who hasn't can still enjoy the play, although the only downfall is that there should be more dialogue or drama directly taken from Poe, as in some identifiable dialogue or play structure. As a result, the play is atmospheric and gripping but not directly recognisable - more along the lines of a generic 19th century play. The setting is a success of beautiful yet tawdy props lurking in the darkness and festowned with cobwebs, a cross between Miss Havisham's bridal boudoir, a cobwebby masquerade ball, and a museum wrecked by looters. The performers wander from room to room so the the audience following whichever performance they choose, whether this involves a fistfight or lovescene. One particularly effective and Blair-Witch style prop is a tiny pocketbook diary which reads: “Today I did a bad thing….” scrawled on random pages in increasingly frantic handwriting, with the rest of the diary is left blank. What evil deed was done, and what became of the writer? The clues are all here if you look hard enough...or are they? - Nina Romain | 12 Nov 07 |
| This was undoubtedly like nothing I had ever seen or been a part of before. As an audience member you leave your pre-conceptions at the door and enter into an exquisitely enigmatic labyrinth of draped corridors and secret morbid rooms. Through exploring alone, you can easily loose yourself in the chilling and distressing tales unfolding, where even the notebook you pick up and skim read, will unleash concealed information to help fit the puzzle together. The meticulous attention to detail in the set is staggering, from unidentified body parts and ointments in glass bottles to blood-stained linen in a candle-lit attic room. This truly is a treat for the senses; distinct smells, whispers in the ear, treats placed delicately on the tongue…This promenade performance is one that excites both body and mind, and leaves you chattering with your friends to unearth the remainder of the mystery. - E.C | 19 Oct 07 |
| This was undoubtedly like nothing I had ever seen or been a part of before. As an audience member you leave your pre-conceptions at the door and enter into an exquisitely enigmatic labyrinth of draped corridors and secret morbid rooms. Through exploring alone, you can easily loose yourself in the chilling and distressing tales unfolding, where even the notebook you pick up and skim read, will unleash concealed information to help fit the puzzle together. The meticulous attention to detail in the set is staggering, from unidentified body parts and ointments in glass bottles to blood-stained linen in a candle-lit attic room. This truly is a treat for the senses; distinct smells, whispers in the ear, treats placed delicately on the tongue…This promenade performance is one that excites both body and mind, and leaves you chattering with your friends to unearth the remainder of the mystery. - E.C | 19 Oct 07 |
| I wasn't expecting to give it four stars but, like the previous reviewer, I didn't get a sense of the stories, despite reading a handful before seeing the show. Still, theatrically, it's quite amazing and the final scene (and the appearance of you-know-who) was quite astonishing. If anything spoiled it, it was the sheer number of audience members (to cover costs, or is Punchdrunk getting a bit greedy?) - and despite being asked by the young woman at the entrance to explore it on your own, twenty-something girls insisted on walking around in pairs, as did larger groups of students and husbands and wives. Some of them even took off their masks and congregating to discuss the scenes. I even saw some people step over a character, on the floor, during a scene, instead of stopping to watch what would unfold. Why do any of this, guys? Why not try to lose yourself in the play and wait until the end, or perhaps over a drink in the Palais Royale musical theatre, to talk about the stories? I suspect that, many of us who went to 'Faust', knew the form and appreciated that you should walk around on your own... so if you're reading this and are about to see the show, please think about abandoning from your partner or friends for three hours and losing yourself in the narrative. Anyway, enjoy... because there are lots of treats in store. - Andrew B | 14 Oct 07 |
| I can't say I got all the stories or that it satisfies in a narrative sense, but the theatricality is extrordinary and the last half-hour or so, as I was swept from a manic dinner to a surreal dance in a full-size ballroom took my breath away. The originality of Punchdrunk means that for each person the first will probably always the best, but this is my third and I still wouldn't miss them for the world. - Gareth James | 10 Oct 07 |
| A wonderful experience, I didn't really know what to expect but it touched me in various ways, some of them quite literally!! I read somewhere that it's like being in a dream you can control and that sums it up well. - Paul W | 07 Oct 07 |
| Beautiful, chilling, oppressive, elusive. A step forwards from Faust in its level of detail and atmosphere, better because you don't have to worry about following a story. - Cardinal Pirelli | 24 Sep 07 |
