Almeida Theatre announces immersive show Lost Origin, created with Factory 42 and Sky

Factory 42, Almeida Theatre and Sky have created a new mixed-reality immersive experience, opening in Hoxton next month.

Titled Lost Origin, the piece sees audiences tasked with solving a mystery inside a dark web marketplace. It is created by the three organisations as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund's Audience of the Future initiative.

Rupert Goold, artistic director of Almeida Theatre, said: "It's exciting to be joining forces with Factory 42 and Sky, two pioneers of their fields, on Lost Origin. At the Almeida, our ambition is to interrogate the present, dig up the past and imagine the future and this project ticks those boxes.

"Dani Parr, our director of participation here at the Almeida, was the perfect person to be the creative director of this experience and bring together the latest interactive technology to create a new form of storytelling."

Alongside Parr, the creative team features Hannah Wood, Story Juice (writer), Michelle Feuerlicht (executive producer), John Cassy (project lead and executive producer), Alice Helps and Julie Landau (set design), Nick Ryan (sound design and composition), Peter Mauder, Phonotheque Ltd (augmented reality experience music composition and sound design), Jo Mackie (live producer), Ross Phillips (creative consultant), Jess Bernberg (lighting designer), Kate Bunce (costume), Will Burton (casting director), Hugo Sterk Ltd (set construction), The Production Family (technical direction and production management), Stephen Stewart (software development director), Sucharita Ghosh Stephenson (XR producer), Maciek Sznabel (art lead/animation director), Maria Robertson (main 3D animation), Stephen Nevin and Niccolò Temperanza (3D art), David Addis (lead programmer), John Foster (Magic Leap design lead), Zeno Rawling (Magic Leap programmer), Mike Golembewski (interactive design and development) and Vytautas Niedvaras, Andrew Sheldon and Callum Walsh (digital tech support and QA).

It will be open to audiences from 21 November 2021 for an exclusive limited run at Hoxton Docks until 4 December.