Punchdrunk’s artistic director Felix Barrett on the company’s most audacious show to date – and turning Arcane into a musical

As Punchdrunk celebrates its 25th anniversary, the company is embarking on its most ambitious project yet: Lander 23, an immersive show that takes inspiration directly from the world of video games.

The show is a step in a new direction for the renowned immersive theatre company, one that focuses more on the audience as a “player” and gives them unprecedented agency. We sat down with Punchdrunk co-founder and artistic director Felix Barrett to get the lowdown on the company’s next adventure.

For years, the immersive theatre world and the video game world have flirted with each other. Both forms seek to engross their audiences in a fully realised, all-consuming experience. But for Punchdrunk, that flirtation is turning into a full-blown romance. “We’ve been wanting to do this for over a decade,” says Barrett, recalling the moment the idea for Lander 23 first took shape.

After Punchdrunk’s 2011 show Sleep No More opened in New York, a journalist described it as a “game of the year.” This stuck with Barrett and got him thinking. “Actually what we do is quite gaming-like in terms of agency and empowerment,” he says. “The word immersive itself comes from video games. It’s the most all-consuming discipline because the players have so much agency.”

This realisation became the foundation for Lander 23. While previous Punchdrunk shows, such as The Drowned Man and The Burnt City, have offered glimpses of gamification with their “easter eggs” and one-to-one character interactions, this new show pushes the concept further than ever before. “The players become the lead characters within their own playable show,” Barrett explains.

To make this a reality, the team at Punchdrunk has had to rethink their entire approach, from the backbone of the show to the creative process itself. “We had to reimagine the technical backend, it’s quite complicated,” Barrett admits, explaining that the technology is designed to enable the gameplay without being visible to the audience. This allows players to focus on their senses and the world around them rather than being tethered to screens or devices.

This new player-centric model also changes the role of the director. “You’re almost directing flow,” Barrett notes. Instead of directing actors for an audience, he’s creating a space for players. The goal is to keep the experience fluid and instinctive, without holding anyone’s hand. “There are levers that are being pulled on this show that we haven’t had to before, but it’s really exciting.”

Barrett is acutely aware of the evolving landscape of immersive theatre, a landscape that Punchdrunk helped terraform many moons ago. He admits “imitation is the highest form of flattery” and is pleased to see a growing appetite for experimental work, noting, “It’s just to be celebrated.”

He suggests that the UK is in a “second cycle” of the immersive scene. While the first wave saw a “dilution of quality” due to the buzzword “immersive” being overused, he is hopeful that there is now a “consolidation of people who are really sort of seeing their targets and heading for it.” He expresses his desire for more experimentation within the industry, stating that more risks will lead to more learning for everyone. “I’m as hungry now as I ever was,” he says, “and if not more so in this 25th year.”

Barrett confirms that the company is currently working on an immersive musical based on the popular Netflix show Arcane, which is itself inspired by the video game League of Legends. This ambitious production, set to open in Shanghai in November, is a “fully immersive musical” that, according to Barrett, has “absolutely mind-blowing” music.

Lander 23 will be performed in the same Woolwich space that housed The Burnt City, but don’t expect a simple rerun. In a move that mirrors the video game concept of “modding” – where players modify an existing game to create something new – Punchdrunk is “modding” its own set. “We want to be more sustainable,” says Barrett, explaining that the company is reusing much of the exoskeleton and armature of the previous show. “We’re modding The Burnt City set to turn it into [the new world].” This approach is both cost-effective and environmentally conscious, a nod to the company’s commitment to sustainability in their permanent home. The show is a bold experiment for Punchdrunk, a company that has always pushed boundaries. “This is a massive experiment,” Barrett says. “But I really believe it’s the future of our practice.”

For a generation that grew up wanting to step inside their favourite stories and worlds, Punchdrunk was the answer. Now, for the generation that grew up with video games, Lander 23 is the next step. “It’s inevitable that we’re heading towards a massively multiplayer live role-playing game,” Barrett muses. “It’s exciting to be able to be there, working out what it can be.”

Lander 23 is now booking at Punchdrunk’s permanent home in Woolwich, London.