From the archives: This is from our original site, MyCityLife, posted back on 27 August 2019.
English company Darkfield is landing in Brisbane City again and are collaborating with Melbourne’s Realscape Productions to bring their immersive theatre shows to new audiences.
After Séance’s run with the Brisbane Festival last September and a run of 4 and 5-star reviews across Australia, it’s no wonder they are touching down in Oz again with Séance and bringing Flight along for the ride in a Brisbane first.
Set in complete darkness, Darkfield take the concept of fear and anxiety and use this to convince an audience of strangers that they have shared in a situation that is very real (sounds scary to us!). No strangers to each other, Glen Neath and David Rosenberg have collaborated on various theatre projects before where 3D audio and sensory deprivation are explored (fans of Stranger Things listen up!) however it is their Darkfield ventures that have really delved into exploring the psychology behind what it takes to unsettle an audience.
Both experiences (because calling it a performance, wouldn’t describe it fully) are similar in design as they take place in 40ft shipping containers however they take vastly different turns with strong narratives that make you forget the space you are actually occupying.
In Séance’s 20-minute performance, you are completely immersed in the experience of a traditional séance occurring around you. The lack of sight heightens your other senses and submits your brain to the experience fully. Whilst you arrive as twenty individuals, you leave the experience feeling like there was perhaps a human (or otherworldly?) presence in that room with you.
Turning in a different direction with a set that could have been straight from the film Escape Room (2019), Flight takes the same concept of immersing you in complete darkness and provides you with the full plane experience. The narrative sends you on a journey where you will forget you’re in Brisbane and will instead believe that you are sky-bound and under the watchful eyes of your cabin crew.
It is hard to define what makes Darkfield’s projects so successful. Is it our collective love of scaring ourselves? Is it our curiosity and our need to push our boundaries? Or our want to seek answers to experiences shrouded in mystery?
Darkfield has certainly done a brilliant job of keeping the air of mystery alive. Join the audiences lining up to participate in Séance or board Flight and find out why Brisbane has summoned Darkfield.
Who knew so much could lie inside one white shipping container?
Séance and Flight
$21.75 for Séance and $26.91 for Flight
Suitable for 15+
When: 19th September- 6th of October
Where: Reddacliff Place, 266 George St, Brisbane City
