Punchdrunk announces new show Viola’s Room

Award-winning immersive theatre company Punchdrunk has announced its new show – billed as “an intimate, sensory, labyrinthine journey guided by light and sound”.

As part of the show, titled Viola’s Room, small groups of six audience members will walk barefoot (while wearing headphones) and feel their way through a maze-like installation, guided by an unseen narrator. The experience is to be written by Booker Prize-shortlisted Daisy Johnson, with Viola’s Room reimagining Barry Pain’s classic gothic mystery The Moon-Slave. 

The production is conceived, directed and designed by the company’s artistic director Felix Barrett, with co-direction by associate director Hector Harkness (One Night, Long Ago; The Third Day) and design by Casey Jay Andrews, who was part of the design team on The Burnt City – the company’s previous production at their Woolwich home. Working with Punchdrunk for the first time are lighting designer Simon Wilkinson (Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks), and sound designer Gareth Fry (The Encounter).

Barrett said today: “When The Burnt City closed, our laboratory opened, and Woolwich became Punchdrunk’s home to experiment, play and develop – allowing us to prototype long held dreams and new ideas. Our ambition over the coming years is to open our doors as never before, offering audiences a chance to experience the evolution of these ideas from limited runs to larger-scale works. It’s with great excitement that we prepare to welcome audiences to the first project in a new era of Punchdrunk shows, Viola’s Room – an uncharted landscape – a moonlit fever dream.”

The show will begin previews on 14 May, with their limited season running until 16 June. Audiences will be attend at various entry times across the week (except Mondays).

Tickets go on general sale on 20 March.