Little Lark of London

“I told you I would be with you on your wedding night. And here I am, as promised.”

Created by Peter Broughton, co-creator of and performer in Sleepwalk Immersive’s Bacchanalia, Creature is an immersive production that allows audience members to experience an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For each performance, done only for one person, the audience member is seated in a wheelchair by Igor (Jessica Southwood) and takes on the role of Victor Frankenstein on the night of his wedding, before they are kidnapped by the titular Creature (Broughton). 

Before entering the show, audience members are greeted by one of the team (Puck), who loudly knocks on the door of the space. The door opens to reveal Igor, wearing an imposing gas mask. They hold out their hand, which the audience member must choose to take, and are slowly pulled into the room, the door closing with a thud behind them. There is something both terrifying and freeing about completely giving oneself over to others, which is exactly what happens as soon as the audience member sits in the wheelchair and put on headphones to be transported into a world of binaural audio. In a way, one could compare it to going on a rollercoaster, relinquishing control and trusting the process. 

There is a tendency for shows like Creature to be difficult to write about, as one should go in with as little information as possible, but might also want some insight before purchasing a ticket for the experience. With a description emphasing the importance of an “encounter with the unknown,” not much should be said about the experience as a whole, allowing audience members to see (and feel) what happens for themselves.

Creature uses a range of technology to tell its story, from audio in headphones to physical performances. There is even a moment in which the audience member watches a film within the performance, giving more context to the story of Frankenstein by showing newscasters (Mei Mei MacLeoad and Broughton) telling the story of the kidnapping of Victor Frankenstein (Ben Mallett) before his wedding to Elizabeth (Maya McQueen).

Along with being the creator of the show, Broughton takes on the role of the titular Creature, puppeteering a monstrous creation of their own design that takes one’s breath away when they encounter it for the first time. It is both horrible and fascinating, and audience members will be unable to look away as the Creature as Igor pushes the wheelchair throughout the space. But it’s not just Broughton and Southwood – Alice Elsie Thomas (X)  and Elena Sirett (Stage Manager) are also on hand, using torches to illuminate different spaces for each scene. 

The team is working in such a small space that it is difficult to hide some of the upcoming set pieces, leading to a few reveals coming earlier than they might have planned if the audience members don’t look directly ahead of them at all times. But, luckily, this is something that rarely happens, as the audience member becomes enraptured by the binaural audio (designed by Hanna Gardner), which truly immerses one in the world of Creature, from soft background noises to the growl of the Creature itself.

Currently, the show’s runtime is between twenty and thirty minutes, with ticket prices ranging from £90 to £100 – and still selling out almost immediately. It is quite a steep price to pay for such a short performance, but it is worth it in order to allow the show to exist for each individual audience member with multiple actors and a range of props. 

Ultimately, Creature is a brilliant piece of immersive theatre that can only move upwards from an already great start as a performance for a single audience member. The fascinating blend of puppetry, binaural audio and immersive theatre will have each person who experiences it thinking about it for months to come. One can look forward to what Broughton and the team come up with in the future. 

Creature ran at the COLAB Tower. For more information, click here.