The Next Generation of Immersive Entertainment
★★★★☆
Have you ever fancied yourself as the next Picard, at the helm of your very own USS Enterprise? Well, now you don’t need to wait for the 24th century as under the train tracks of Vauxhall station there are multiple ships ready to be piloted by you and a trustworthy crew. This is truly an outstanding leap forward in the technological capabilities of immersive theatre that draws you deep into the action surrounding you. Parabolic Theatre have built something special that can only get better and better.
The premise for this otherworldly adventure is that we are recruits aboard a United Confederation Navy’s (UCN) starship taking on dangerous missions for the good of a recently united humanity. Missions can take several forms including, military (lots of ship-to-ship space battles), exploration (discovery and survival), intrigue (espionage and investigation) and diplomacy (negotiation galore). For our expedition, we were tasked with an intrigue mission - retrieving a lost data pad from a pirate blockade and returning it to Terra Nova. Sounds simple right? Not quite.
After donning our fetching flight suits, we, the newly assembled crew, step into the teleporter transporting us aboard the mothership conveniently equipped with a well-stocked bar. Once hydrated we are taken to our vessel, through the airlock and introduced to the functionality of the ship and assigned our stations. I volunteered to man one of the weapons seats, tasked with the targeting and firing the beam weapon, managing the shields and on hand to use the tractor beam - whether this was a good idea was yet to be seen. Other roles include the captain, helm (pilot), navigation, comms, and engineering as well plus we had a detachable shuttle with its own crew - plenty for everyone to get involved with.
Whilst our mission objective has been presented to us, it is very much up to us to decide how we approach it. Do we charge in all guns blazing? Could we take a sneakier approach? Or could we create a distraction so our shuttle crew can get in without too much heat? We opt for the latter and begin charting our course across deep space, towards the pirates. The openness in how crews are able to tackle each mission is quite impressive the flexibility of the system and our onboard advisor (cast member) means that we can make autonomous decisions and feel truly in control but this does come at some cost.
The breadth of choice means that a satisfying outcome is not guaranteed. For us the bold decision we took to conclude our mission landed without consequence, without implications for a wider story and felt somewhat deflating after a brilliantly intense few hours learning to fly the ship and battling in space. It lacked the victorious moment we naturally associate with similar scenarios we have watched play out on screen time and again. The minimal narrative guardrails allow this to happen, and unless the creative team can plan for every variation in each story I see this remaining an issue.
I remain staggered by the technology that is at the core of this experience. Every single piece of equipment is interactive and synced. Simple actions such as turning on the shields triggers the lighting to change and the power levels on the engineering screens to update. Fuel cells deplete and must be physically swapped out and the system is cleverly designed to force us to work together, communicating effectively. Information must be shared across stations for the ship to operate efficiently and for us much of this resolves to shouting instructions or requests across the bridge. Once you get to grips with your duties your focus becomes narrowed and the immersion increases, eyes roving the screens to see what your next priority is. It’s hard to explain how good the set-up is but it just works and has to be tried out for oneself.
One other slight snag in the experience crops up in who you are teamed up with. Understandably many guests are returning to space having adored their previous adventures but this created an imbalance within the group. Most of our group were returners and it meant the minority of us who weren’t were left playing catch up and sidelined in some of the decision-making. Dedicated sessions for beginners and returners would be welcome in the future.
This experience truly did blow my mind with its sheer potential and technical immersion. It is a perfect activity for a group of friends, solo adventurers or even as a scarce not-terrible piece of organised fun to do with your colleagues. The cast were excellent in heightening the immersion and guiding us through. This is a next-generation piece of immersive theatre that must be experienced to be believed. Yes, there is still room to grow but no doubt I will be back to continue my career as a loyal member of the United Confederation Navy. There may be no Vulcans here but it sure does hit the Spock.
Currently booking until 31st January - Tickets
Photography - Alex Brenner
