Things To Do

Jason Allen 24/01/25


Darkfield at The Ditch

Darkfield is slowly but surely mastering the art of the small-scale, 360°, audio-led immersive experience.

On that front, there’s no-one else who can challenge them. They’ve been going for more than half a decade now, and they’ve produced some truly great shows (Séance, Flight, Coma and Eulogy) all set in shipping containers, which make clever use of both darkened sets and audio illusions to create a sense of a far wider landscape than the restrictive box you’re actually in. Well, now they’re back: and this time they’re thinking outside the box.

The show is called Arcade, which actually made its debut last autumn as part of the London Film Festival‘s experimental side hustle LFF Expanded. It’s returning this spring in a completely different setting: the pretty much abandoned, decaying network of cellars and tunnels beneath Shoreditch Town Hall. Given that Darkfield’s shows are known for their uncanny, otherworldly stories, it’s actually a perfect match – plus there’ll be room for a dedicated bar area for the first time.

darkfield arcade

As with all Darkfield experiences it is always best to go in knowing as little as possible. But the bare-bones lowdown is that the experience will be part video game, and part immersive theatre. This is a play, and you’re a player.

Those empty tunnels will be glowing with the distinctive, vibrant neon rainbow aesthetic of the ’80s arcade machine. You’ll be invited to step up to your own arcade machine, with your own headphones. As you play the game, you’ll hear cast members whispering in your ear, and feel the illusory wider soundscape emerging while making provocative moral decisions on screen throughout the game.

Apparently, there are 30 different possible endings. But given that the show’s already been thoroughly road-tested at both the Edinburgh Fringe and the London Film Festival, and collected a whole bunch of five-star reviews in the process…

…they’re probably all satisfying ones.

 

NOTE: Arcade runs from 1st – 12th April at The Ditch below Shoreditch Town Hall. The show lasts roughly 30mins. Tickets will go on sale soon – you can keep an eye out on the Darkfield website.

Arcade | Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT


While you’re there… you might want to swing by one of the best restaurants in Shoreditch.


Darkfield at The Ditch


Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, Shoreditch, EC1V 9LT