Punchdrunk Viola’s Room

[Dave B]

Something being announced next week, priority registration on www.punchdrunk.com/ (there is a queue in place already just to sign up)

[zahidf]

www.timeout.com/london/news/the-most-distilled-pure-version-of-a-punchdrunk-show-the-immersive-legends-return-with-violas-room-031824

Violas room, may 14 to June 16th. Onsale weds

[mrnutz]

Priority sale was today - I've booked!

[firefingers]

I've booked too. It sounds very intriguing. You have to be barefoot for the experience, I'll have to get a pedicure before I go!

[Steve]

Just got an email this is on general sale:

www.punchdrunk.com/work/violas-room/

On the one hand, it's Punchdrunk!

On the other hand, I imagine the barefoot requirement will put some people off for fear of catching athlete's foot. Hopefully, they'll disinfect surfaces regularly. :0

[david]

This barefoot thing sounds like a collab with Jamie Lloyd.

[Dave B]

Extended by two months despite early press leaving very very heavily on a limited one month run.

Interested but for the barefoot, that is just a pass for me. Oh well. It does make me wonder if they are going to make anyone wearing tights remove them?

[bigredapple]

Preview Wednesday cancelled 🙃

[bigredapple]

May 13, 2024 17:19:06 GMT bigredapple said:

Preview Wednesday cancelled 🙃

Was rebooked for tomorrow, which has now also been cancelled.

Seriously??

[helenfrombath]

From the website:
The audience will be barefoot across a variety of different floor surfaces. You may emerge from the experience with wet feet and some dry particles from floor texture.
There are areas of darkness and total black out. There are confined spaces which may cause claustrophobia. Some spaces are very small and may require you to crouch or bend over to pass through.
For patrons with mysophobia, a sealed bag with a pair of sanitised headphones and playback device can be provided.
The production contains themes of death.

Due to the darkness and confined spaces, we do not recommend Viola’s Room for people who are pregnant.

Viola’s Room is a sensory journey that requires the audience to be barefoot.
There are foot sanitation stations prior to entry into and following your exit from the experience. For reasons of hygiene, we ask that all visitors sanitise their feet before entering the space.
For the safety of all audience members, no one will be permitted to enter wearing shoes. Audience members who use a wheelchair or mobility aid can book an assigned time slot by contacting our Box Office directly. Audience members who are unable to remove their shoes due to Access requirements should also contact our Box Office.

[dr]

Rather fuming... my rebooked preview has also been cancelled. And for the email to come through at 11 PM! All I can say is that I hope they rebook without additional costs, since I will not be paying more than £15.

[digne]

I was suposed to see it yesterday evening, but when we arrived they told us that because of technical difficulties they were running an hour late and would have to rebook us, so now we'll try again next month. But from the sound of it it was actually running yesterday, they just had such a backlog of booked timslots because of whatever wasn't working that we didn't make the cut.

We got free drinks in the bar to make up for it, which I have to say has been turned into a really interesting spot, full of all sorts of props and loads of costumes we could rifle through.

[claireyfairy1]

It sounds like from those who did experience the show last night, it was chaotic and confused and not at all ready. My friend said he found it stressful just figuring out where and how to move. So I think it’s probably a good thing to be rebooked to when they have actually made it work!

[BurlyBeaR]

May 17, 2024 22:32:36 GMT helenfrombath said:

From the website:
The audience will be barefoot across a variety of different floor surfaces. You may emerge from the experience with wet feet and some dry particles from floor texture.
There are areas of darkness and total black out. There are confined spaces which may cause claustrophobia. Some spaces are very small and may require you to crouch or bend over to pass through.
For patrons with mysophobia, a sealed bag with a pair of sanitised headphones and playback device can be provided.
The production contains themes of death.

Due to the darkness and confined spaces, we do not recommend Viola’s Room for people who are pregnant.

Viola’s Room is a sensory journey that requires the audience to be barefoot.
There are foot sanitation stations prior to entry into and following your exit from the experience. For reasons of hygiene, we ask that all visitors sanitise their feet before entering the space.
For the safety of all audience members, no one will be permitted to enter wearing shoes. Audience members who use a wheelchair or mobility aid can book an assigned time slot by contacting our Box Office directly. Audience members who are unable to remove their shoes due to Access requirements should also contact our Box Office.

Sounds absolutely awful. Hard, hard pass (not that I was considering it anyway). If it’s necessary to get people to remove items of clothing in order to experience Punchdrunk’s “art” then I’m afraid it’s all sounding a bit desperate. I do not want to experience people’s feet and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Nasty. 

Poll added 🦶

[andrew]

May 18, 2024 12:01:02 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Sounds absolutely awful. Hard, hard pass (not that I was considering it anyway). If it’s necessary to get people to remove items of clothing in order to experience Punchdrunk’s “art” then I’m afraid it’s all sounding a bit desperate. I do not want to experience people’s feet and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Nasty. 

Poll added 🦶

Interesting to hear your take on that, I walk barefoot around the gym changing room, swimming pools, saunas, beach bars on holiday, my own house, my friends houses, I wouldn't characterise it as nasty. I'd like to think they've not ignored hygiene as a concept. I don't have a problem with it personally, but haven't done the experience to say for sure!

[BurlyBeaR]

I confess I have a bit of a 🤢 when it comes to feet. Not mine, mine are perfect but rarely matched by other peoples 😬.

If the “sanitisation” involves walking barefoot through a shallow trough of swampy disinfectant, at blood temperature because of the hundreds of rancid feet that have gone before you then that’s a major 🤮

[blamerobots]

When I was in Japan at Xmas, I went to an art exhibit there that required you to take off all your shoes and socks and wade through knee-high water to get anywhere.

The water from what I understood with my limited Japanese was a kind of hyper-concentrated chlorinated water, like in swimming pools but in a higher concentration. I was pretty "icked out" at first for similar reasons as others state but it was actually really good fun, because at least in my head, with all the measures taken, it was safe. It was this if you're interested.

But something like this I think is much different... At that art exhibit, you were like constantly in the water in every room whilst viewing the exhibits, and rooms that had you just barefoot were always between areas with the disinfected water. And, it was only an hour long.

For some reason, I don't like the idea of JUST one little sanitizing station, then running about who knows where on what. 

It doesn't appeal to me. Sorry, Punchdrunk.

[helenfrombath]

It seems that Punchdrunk are opening a new production in New York's Financial District called Life and Trust, it begins performances in June. And there is also a rumored Los Angeles mounting of an immersive Phantom of the Opera. So perhaps their artistic staff is getting stretched a little thin, and that has led to the issues with Viola's Room?

[dr]

May 18, 2024 16:12:47 GMT helenfrombath said:

It seems that Punchdrunk are opening a new production in New York's Financial District called Life and Trust, it begins performances in June. And there is also a rumored Los Angeles mounting of an immersive Phantom of the Opera. So perhaps their artistic staff is getting stretched a little thin, and that has led to the issues with Viola's Room?

"Life and Trust" is Emursive, Punchdrunk are not in any way involved. It seems very heavily inspired by Punchdrunk, being inspired also by Goethe's Faust, but none of the PD creatives are involved, as far as I'm aware.

The LA project does seem to have been underway for a while now, but Viola's Room is the only confirmed PD project active besides the two Sleep No Mores. It also features different creatives to their usual roster, so there's not too much clashing.

These delays are normal. "The Burnt City" had a few cancelled previews, if I remember correctly. Punchdrunk is an innately experimental company - I don't give them blind faith, but I'm hoping to rebook for next week, when I imagine it will be a much better, more fluent show. 

[blamerobots]

May 18, 2024 16:12:47 GMT helenfrombath said:

It seems that Punchdrunk are opening a new production in New York's Financial District called Life and Trust, it begins performances in June. And there is also a rumored Los Angeles mounting of an immersive Phantom of the Opera. So perhaps their artistic staff is getting stretched a little thin, and that has led to the issues with Viola's Room?

I assumed the immersive Phantom rumour that was floating around a while back was the Phantom VR rollercoaster that's opened in Germany.

[khiar]

It's very much in the previews stage still but it's coming together, slowly but surely. On Saturday my group was taken through with a steward bringing up the rear in case anybody got lost, and he had to make interventions several times (ranging from a gentle gesture in the right direction, to hunting down somebody who'd taken a wrong turn). It is my understanding that they intend to run it without the steward once things are running smoother.

Don't go anytime soon if you want to see it as a finished product, but it'll be worth going when it's been ironed out. I loved what I saw, but I spent a bit too much of my concentration on figuring out where to go, rather than focusing on the story and sensory aspects.

[nobunaga]

I went yesterday-the main problem seems to be the headphones:they still don't seem reliabable as we had to wait half an hour to get all six working..So be prepared to wait if necessary.
We had no steward with us-overall it was fairly easy to find our way apart from one segment.Overall really enjoyed it.

[zahidf]

Thought this as very good and different. Very Tim Burton esque. But lots of walking/darkness.

[mrnutz]

This is Punchdrunk at their very best. 5/5

[dr]

Overall, very positive reviews all-round, albeit with a few skeptics (which seems fairly normal.)

Guardian: 5/5 - "gothic tale of puzzling wonder"

Time Out: 4/5 - "the immersive legends’ best show in years"

The Stage: 4/5 - "beautifully wrought enchantment"

Telegraph: 4/5 - "refreshing production that casts a simple, singular spell"

Independent: 3/5 - "stunning scenery, but a thin story"

iNews: 2/5 - "underwhelming"